The New Arrival
by HouseFan92
Summary: A mysterious bloodthirsty girl is unwillingly sent to the ninja world to aid Hidan's rescue while trying to escape being captured by Konoha forces and deal with trying to get home but she can't remember what happened the day before or why she still keeps appearing before them when the last thing she remembers is walking away not wanting to get involved with humans especially Hidan.
1. The Order

**Hi readers (: I have been thinking about this story for a while now but never really put it down in real words until I realized it could actually turn out to be a good plot. So I hope you enjoy this story, it will be a lengthy piece and I will try to add a chapter a week, but no promises are made for I get lazy sometimes xD Please review and tell me what you think, it would be really appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me..obviously**

**The rating might change later on in the story but that's still up for debate, it depends on where exactly the story will be headed, and input from reviews will really be what decides that. haha but hidan is in this story so... okay enough rambling :p**

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**Chapter One: "The Order"**

_'I will change this world one day, a world corrupt with greed, shrouded in darkness by that same hatred and blood thirst….it shouldn't be like this….this world isn't what anyone should have to consider home…' _a gentle knock on the door disturbed the young girl from her thoughts.

"What is it?" she questioned at the person on the other side of the door, her voice void of any emotion.

The meek voice that belonged to one of the staff around the large compound spoke up after a couple of seconds as if hesitating to answer her question.

"Uh..um..J-Jashin-sama wishes to have a w-word with you h-hime-sama, h-he said it w-was u-urge…" the meek servant girl gasped loudly as the door in front of her was harshly opened, the door creaking violently as if screaming almost breaking in two by the impact of the brute strength.

The servant girl's eyes widened as the young teenage girl stood in front of her, her own body wouldn't stop trembling. She had heard stories about the girl but she always believed them to be rumors. She had never met the girl in person and only now had she ever heard her voice. This was her first day as the girl's personal servant, a job only she could handle, or that's what the priests told her at least. No one ever talked to the girl, everyone around the compound was prohibited from approaching the said girl without Jashin-sama's direct order, but that wasn't necessary because no one was brave or stupid enough to approach her. She clearly remembered one incident that even if she tried to, she could never forget.

(Flashback)

"_Adnelle-san please stop worrying so much and come sit down, you've been working on that headpiece for about a day with little rest, I'm concerned about you, so please" the older woman smiled sweetly and patted the empty space next to her on the bench. _

_Adnelle looked at her mentor with a bewildered look as she continued her diligent work transfixed upon the rare and irreplaceable cloth on her lap. The older woman didn't budge an inch to Adnelle's look; she just continued patting the seat next to her. The meek servant girl knew very well that Jinko-sama would never stop insisting until she got what she wanted, so very slowly she got up from her stool and carefully moved the headpiece to a nearby chest, making sure to lock it and secure it correctly. Jinko seeing this only smirked knowing her apprentice was always this cautious when it came to things regarding Jashin-sama's belongings. _

_Adnelle sat on the bench, her hands perched on either side of her thighs grabbing the bench tightly. Jinko raised her eyebrow at this and chuckled. Adnelle always sat this way when she was anxious about something. "Calm down child, the headpiece will still be there for you to finish, you just sat down to relax and already you want to go back to it?" Jinko's voice was calm and sweet but Adnelle knew Jinko was making fun of her a bit for being this anxious. Adnelle let out an audible sigh and moved her hands to her lap intertwining her fingers together. At this Jinko smiled and could sense Adnelle calm down considerably._

"_That's better child, now please as your mentor I'm only here to help you, all my advice is for your own benefit, you work so hard Adnelle, you remind me a little bit of myself when I was younger, and that was a very long time ago as you can tell" Jinko let out a chuckle "and well I was never this fixed on making those dreadful headpieces but you seem to really enjoy it". Jinko smiled and tilted her head to the side. Adnelle blushed at this and looked away from her mentor._

"_It's not that I like it Jinko-sama, it's just that I owe him my life, and I'll put up with anything if it pleases him in the end, the headpiece is only a token of my deep admiration", Jinko knew what she meant, another thing that made her very different from her apprentice was how they each viewed Jashin-sama._

_The air was stale and Jinko chuckled lightly to lighten the mood. "Child please, think of your health as well, if you don't then you'll get ill and won't be able to do anything else for Jashin-sama, now please child, go to your chambers and rest, I'll finish the headpiece for you"._

_Adnelle knew Jinko's work on headpieces was the most beautiful and no one came close to perfection like Jinko did with the hand sown articulate designs. "Arigatou Jinko-sama, I would object but I know how even I couldn't match your work and I know it would please Jashin-sama greatly" with that she stood and headed to her chambers when she remembered something. Quickly she turned and looked at her mentor, "oh yes, Jinko-sama I heard from Hisako that you were getting promoted, a job that Jashin-sama himself assigned to you". Jinko's sweet smile disappeared and a serious tone took form. Adnelle gulped at the sight, she had never seen her mentor like this._

"_Yes Adnelle-san, I have been assigned as the personal servant to Sunnora-sama herself". _

_'WHAT? Sunnora-sama actually exists?'_

_Her head reeled with unanswered questions she wanted to ask her mentor but her voice seemed to disappear. She stood there frozen. Jinko shook her head lightly and smiled at Adnelle once more before getting up from the bench and moving over to the chest to retrieve the headpiece and as she walked out the room she looked towards her apprentice._

"_Adnelle-san you take care and rest, I'll give this to you tomorrow" lifting the headpiece slowly and stopped "but right now I have to introduce myself to Sunnora-sama" and with that the sunshine of a woman was gone._

_-Exactly 25 hours later-_

_Loud pacing back and forth footsteps was all that could be heard from the servant quarters as Adnelle waited for Jinko to appear before her with the finished headpiece. Her lower lip was bleeding as she had the habit to bite it when extremely anxious._

_Hisako appeared before her and gave Adnelle a questioning look, "um..Adnelle-san if you continue that you will leave holes on our floor" Hisako said with a giggle but abruptly stopped when she saw her friend's face. Hisako and Adnelle were best friends and had both been Jinko's apprentices. Hisako was the main servant in the kitchen while Adnelle was in charge of the cleaning of the lower floors and order of the compound. Jinko was Jashin-sama's most trusted servant so was allowed in every room chamber as well as the upper level personal chambers and the only one who knew the personal details about the Drutalli line other than Jashin's personal priests. Hisako adopted a concerned facial expression after observing her dear friend for a couple of seconds._

"_Adnelle-san what's wrong?"_

"_The headpiece Hisako..The headpiece, Jinko-sama said she would have it back to me like an hour ago and I have to deliver it in thirty minutes to Keiko so she can add the finishing pieces to it" Adnelle groaned covering her face with her hands._

"_This isn't like Jinko-sama, she is never late, are you sure she hasn't already delivered it?"_

"_No Hisako, she told me she would give it back to me, she wouldn't deliver it herself without informing me first…uh where could she be?"_

"_Come Adnelle, let's look for her"_

_Hisako took Adnelle's hand and led her away from the servant quarters to the main compound area._

"_Where would Jinko-sama be at this time of the day?" Hisako wondered out loud._

"_Jinko-sama usually cleans the upstairs chambers at this time while Jashin-sama and his priests are at the main temple"_

_Hisako scrunched her face._

"_Upstairs chambers huh?"_

_Both girls looked defeated at the realization. They both knew that there were guards everywhere on the upstairs compound, they never saw it themselves but Jinko told them once after her first day in the chambers many years ago, that every move was tracked by the compound guard's eyes._

"_How much time until you have to deliver the headpiece Adnelle?"_

_Adnelle didn't even want to know but she counted it in her head anyways, her voice going down an octave as she spoke._

"_Five minutes Hisako"_

_Both girls groaned but suddenly stopped as a loud heart stopping shriek was heard. The air seemed to still, breathing halting at the terror in the owner's voice._

"_A-Ad-Adnelle-s-san w-was t-th-that….", Hisako's voice was no louder than a whisper and just by glancing to the side she could tell Hisako was trembling. She knew Hisako's question even though she didn't finish it because she was thinking the same thing. Only she didn't want to ask it out loud for it seemed much more real, she wanted to wake up from this and laugh it off as another weird dream but she wasn't waking up._

"_JINKO-SAMA!", Hisako ran up the long corridor of stairs tripping under her feet at every 3rd__step. As Hisako reached the top a pair of large glove covered hands reached out and held her back. The guard was 2 feet taller than her and seemed to hold back the distraught and out of breathe Hisako without much effort as she kicked and punched at the man begging to let her go. Tears covered her face as she pleaded with the man to let her pass._

_The man was covered in all black cloth; no inch of his skin could be seen except the smallest slit for eyes. 'These must be the guards Jinko-sama was talking about' Adnelle thought to herself as she stared at the picture in front of her. The man placed his large hand on top of Hisako's head and a violet light was emitted._

"_You are Kiyoko Hisako, you do not have permission from Jashin-sama to enter this part of the compound, please step away or I will be forced to use violence" the man said in an almost robotic tone._

_Hisako couldn't believe what she was hearing, the man must have heard the scream as well, so why wasn't he doing anything?_

"_P-Please l-let me th-through!", Hisako continued trying to move forward, the words almost unrecognizable as every syllable was slurred by the terror in her voice._

_Adnelle knew Hisako very well, she wasn't surprised by her actions, Jinko and Hisako had always been very close, almost like mother and daughter, so it hurt her more not being able to really feel what Hisako was feeling at this very moment._

"_HISAKO PLEASE STOP, HE'S SERIOUS, IF YOU CONTINUE THIS HE'LL HURT YOU, PLEASE HISAKO", Adnelle yelled at her friend, but Hisako must have not heard her or decided to ignore her plead for she only increased her kicking and screaming at the guard._

_Adnelle shivered as she noticed the slight change in the man's eyes and stance._

"_PLEASE HISAKO STOP" Adnelle ran forward tripping every once in a while on the stairs but kept going trying to get her friend out of the guard's reach._

"_You were warned"_

_Adnelle stood there gaping at the scene before her. Her legs gave out under her as she fell harshly, the pain was bad but she didn't even notice a thing as her vision was clouded with tears. Less than three feet away hovered Hisako off the floor, the thing lifting her up was the large katana in the middle of her chest. Hisako was still conscious which made things worse. She was in pain and looked as though she didn't know what was going on around her. The usually chipper bright eyes were now dull and lifeless, covered in tears and her mouth was parted, blood escaping the ends. The man flicked his katana like it was nothing and Hisako fell to the ground with a thump. Her eyes caught some movement at the very end of the hall that the guard was guarding. A child with dark blood red eyes stared at her with a huge grin and eyes dancing in amusement._

_-Six years later-_

_No one around the compound spoke of the incident. Hisako never received a funeral and mention of her name was prohibited. Jinko was also never found and received the same treatment as Hisako did. Even other servants who treasured and admired the two women turned away when Adnelle brought up their names. It was as if they never existed. Adnelle got promoted to Jinko's old position and after receiving Jashin-sama's permission was allowed to go to the upstairs compound but rarely went anyway, the only time she went was when she had no other choice. No one around the compound knew what Jashin-sama looked like or talked to him personally. Adnelle wasn't even sure if Jinko did either, she never really spoke much of the God like man. All his orders were passed through his priests and even then they only seemed to get their orders from scrolls._

_Adnelle shook her head 'this isn't the time to be thinking about such things' she thought and headed upstairs to the meeting room. She was supposed to get new orders from one of Jashin-sama's closest priests today. Opening the large door she looked inside and only saw a table in the middle of the spacious room. She sat down on her knees and waited for the priest to approach her. A man covered in black loose cloth entered the room and she bowed before him. Never looking him in the eye as he spoke._

"_I will cut to the point of this summoning to save us the waste of precious time", he paused and cleared his throat._

"_Nao Adnelle, you have been chosen to be Sunnora-sama's personal servant, a servant was assigned to her about six years ago but it seems Sunnora-sama wasn't… " he paused then continued as if regretting in the direction he had taken his words "It is Jashin-sama's decision that Sunnora-sama is now more capable of interacting with people", the priest felt Adnelle's whole body cringe._

"_That is all, here are the scrolls Jashin-sama assigned to you, and it may not seem like much but this is a job only you can do" and with that the man got up from the floor and left her alone._

_Adnelle quickly recalled the conversation she had with Jinko a couple of years ago…_

"_Yes Adnelle-san, I have been assigned as the personal servant to Sunnora-sama herself"…._

'_That was what she said the day before she disappeared'_

_(End of Flashback)_

Adnelle looked at the girl before her eyes. There was no denying it, for in front of her stood the same girl she saw that evening about six years ago, but not a child anymore.

Her eyes were dark blood red, her hair was black like nightfall long and beautiful, and the skin was pale and flawless. Her expression showed no signs of being alive. She was a little taller than herself and wore simple clothing. Black tight cloth surrounded her slim yet curvy figure all the way from just below her eyes to the middle of her waist. Her arms were covered in the material ending at her wrists. The same tight black material covered her legs just below where her fingertips could reach and she wore simple black shoes. She wore the Drutalli bloodline emblem just below the hem ending at her waist and just above the waistline of her black clad skirt. The emblem being held in place by silver pieces covering her navel. Adnelle had never seen a girl as beautiful as Sunnora. Everyone she spoke to around the compound had swore to her that they had seen the girl and that she was a monster but now that the girl stood before her she could tell they were all lies for the girl was elegant, a true goddess.

"You may leave if that is all", said the calm voice of the girl.

"H-hai Sunnora-sama" and with that Adnelle quickly mustered the courage to make her legs move and fled from the girl. Even as beautiful as she was, she was still the most frightening sight, it wasn't really Sunnora herself, it was more the eyes she possessed. She remembered the eyes she saw that horrible evening when her best friend died, they hadn't changed in the slightest. The ones that stared at her, she was now absolutely sure they belonged to none other than Sunnora Drutalli.

Sunnora approached the large empty hall leading to large wooden doors.

Sighing she went in. Sunnora looked around but quickly stopped as she noticed the room was empty. '_Another opportunity gone'_ she thought with furrowed brows as she placed the hidden katana behind her back in its sheath. She was angry, the only reason she came all the way here was because she was sure the man she had been trying to kill for years now, had the guts to face her in person. If she knew he wasn't going to show she would have never have left her chambers. A deep voice awoke her from her thoughts.

"Sunnora, I have an order for you"

"You have an order for me? You really have the audacity to order me around and not even face me in person you lowly scum!" she hissed at him.

"This is non-negotiable Sunnora, you will obey" the voice stated, not even affected by her words in the slightest.

This only angered the hot tempered goddess even further.

"NO! I WILL NOT DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU DEMONIC BASTAR..", her yelling was abruptly brought to a stop by the invisible grip around her neck. Her whole body had been thrown backwards like a rag doll as the strong ghost like being in the room pressed her against the wall, her feet dangling about a foot above the floor.

"Really? Do you think this will make me change my mind, nothing you say or forcibly do will make me change my answer", the young girl stated calmly as if she wasn't in the situation she was currently in.

"Sunnora, I control everything around you, just because you are who you are doesn't stop me from doing as I wish, now…your orders are written in that scroll, take it with you and I will send a messenger when I wish for you to return, don't disappoint me", the deep voice chanted a few words and a bright purple light appeared before the wide-eyed Sunnora.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" but it was too late, even she knew that. For when that bright light appeared before her she knew that this discussion was over.

"I'LL KILL YOU, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU JASHIN D…." she screamed but her voice trailed off as she was pulled into the light and gone from the realm she called home.

The deep voice remained in the room letting forth a low chuckle.

"I know you will my daughter…I know you will".

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**So that's chapter one, I do plan on making all future chapters pretty lengthy, so please review and tell me if you like it so far.**


	2. The Arrival

**Hi readers, well this chapter was posted earlier than I had intended so the 3rd chapter will also be posted sooner than expected xD Not sure for how long I can keep up at that pace but we'll see. Thank you everyone who has read and I hope you enjoy this one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (only Sunnora and a few new characters will appear in this chapter).**

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**Chapter 2: "The Arrival"**

"I'LL KILL YOU, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU JASHIN D…." she screamed but her voice trailed off as she was pulled into the light and gone from the realm she called home.

The deep voice remained in the room letting forth a low chuckle.

"I know you will my daughter…I know you will".

"RUTALLI…I WILL KIL-", her anger only increased as she realized she didn't even get the last word. It took a minute for her head to clear from the anger.

'_Well what a huge surprise both realms are surrounded in darkness' _Sunnora sarcastically thought as she looked around. She had only blinked and less than a second later she had been teleported from the realm the girl had only known to this bizarre new land. She had studied this realm as a child but only knew what she did from books, being here firsthand was something new to her. However one thing did catch her immediate attention as she was comparing the two, when inhaling in this new land it didn't hurt her lungs and chest. The sensation was overwhelming as the young girl started inhaling rapidly.

"I could get used to this", she said out loud and continued the deep breathing. Looking around she started picking up multiple differences from the two realms. Some she liked, some not so much. '_This realm is quite noisy if this keeps up I'll go look for whatever is making the noise and kill it slowly' _she thought as she heard crickets chirping as well as the occasional nocturnal bird.

She started walking to nowhere in particular and noticed the scroll her father had assigned to her with her order inscribed inside just a bit ahead of her path.

_'Well I won't be needing that', s_he kicked it aside and continued on.

"If Jashin thinks just because he sent me here without my approval that I'll follow accordingly he has another thing coming", just then her head started throbbing with an unimaginable pain. The young girl was accustomed to pain and didn't mind it but this time it was different, it was as if being in this new realm had changed the level of pain or as if her body had changed in some way. She had felt this pain only once before but it was very long ago.

The goddess doubled over in agony and let out a scream while holding her head in her hands. It was too much, and she couldn't even think of what to do, as she fell to the ground. The pain lessened and her brain registered what happened.

Standing up she shook her head in frustration. "This damn bloodline", she said as she realized why she had been in so much pain just a minute before. Sunnora had never gone this long without killing, she was bloodthirsty and merciless, and as a child she was even more bloodthirsty and cynical and was only in eternal happiness after her kill was completely dead. She recalled clearly how she loved to toy and torture her victims as a toddler not killing them until she felt like their screams annoyed her to a certain point. She was always alone, that is the way her father wanted it to be and she didn't completely mind, the only time she was in the presence of others was for their sacrifice. She had grown out of the slow kill technique many years ago and now she killed instantly. The pleasure it brought her after her kill did lessen with the change in technique though but her temper had increased and her tolerance for the screaming and pleading sacrifices had definitely dwindled.

She had only felt this pain once before, '_it was when that happened'_. She shook her head refusing to let that memory resurface.

Taking the long skinny katana from behind her she headed for the forest where she could clearly smell blood. She needed to sacrifice a soul to her realm.

Her instincts kicked in and the demon girl went full speed to her prey. Her eyes originally clear blue had now taken their dominant color that only came forth when in this state. Eyes turned blood red and her speed rose as if faster than teleportation. She didn't go into this state much, it wasn't necessary most of the time, but right now she was desperate, and in this state she just couldn't help going back to the old technique, her demon side loved the slow torture and toying most of all.

The demon goddess came to a stop when she noticed the smell of blood around her increased. She grinned as she realized that not only was there going to be one sacrifice but multiple ones. Sunnora chanted a few words while grabbing her emblem and in an instant was completely out of anyone's range of senses like a ghost. The girl stepped among her victims. Counting in her head she noted four males and two females. '_Oh this will be fun'._

"You sure we're going the right way Katsuro-kun?" one of the girls spoke to the boy by her side.

"Yes Mayomi-san, don't be scared, you think some animal is going to attack us?" he chuckled and pointed at one of the other boys, "Kenta let Mayomi see it", the boy said in a tone that unnerved the girl.

The boy nodded and pulled out a large katana from his bag.

Mayomi's eyes widened and looked from boy to boy. "Why do you have that with you Kenta-san?"

The boy stayed silent but one of the other boys spoke for him. "It makes him feel more like a man, isn't that right Kenta?" all the boys and the other girl laughed except for Mayomi and Kenta.

"Hisao stop picking on Kenta and guys this isn't funny, we should have taken another route, I think we're going to get lost", Mayomi said.

"Don't freak Mayomi-san, Kenta might be the one carrying the katana but the only one that knows how to use it is me", the boy said pounding his chest a few times. The girls rolled their eyes and the boys lightly hit the boy on his back.

Laughter erupted from the group.

"Fine, but my mother is expecting me home in ten minutes so let's hurry".

"Mayomi-san I promise we'll get you home in less than two minutes", Katsuro said.

"Oi Katsuro, look!" Hisao shouted as he pulled his bag from behind him and also displayed a medium sized katana.

"WHOA! Hisao where have you been hiding that beauty?"all the boys crowded around the boy and looked.

"You're not the only one that can use a katana Katsuro", Hisao pulled the katana from his bag and showed off a few of his slashes in mid air.

"Oh? I didn't know you even liked that kind of stuff Hisao", Katsuro said looking at the boy in front of him still showing off his stances.

"Yup, I was going to become a shinobi but my mother freaked when I brought it up, so I have been secretly training, I'm going to become much much better and then she'll really have no other option than to let me join the academy". The boy grinned showing off all his teeth.

"If you think you're so good Hisao how about testing your skills off on me", Katsuro grabbed the katana from Kenta and lifted the sword in front of his face signaling the other boy to make the first move.

Everyone looked from boy to boy.

"Okay, how will we know who the winner is?"

"Uhh..how about the first to unarm the other wins?"

"Deal"

Both boys took their stances unwilling to move. Hisao had trained a bit but never with the actual katana that he kept hidden. Katsuro's father collected katanas and trained with the boy when he was still a little kid. His father passed away not long after and the boy quit training for obvious reasons. This was the first year he was enrolled in the academy, only joining because he promised his father he would, there he had met Mayomi and the rest of the group. Hisao was his friend before he met the rest and quickly became an addition to the group of beginner shinobis. Truth be told he didn't want to have this match but he always spoke too much in Mayomi's presence, and right now he only wanted to prove to the girl he could protect her if need be.

Both boys locked eyes and moved ahead the clash of steel breaking the silence.

"You block quite well Hisao"

The boy chuckled and continued the sparring.

Sunnora watched the battle with hungry eyes. She was quite patient when it came to timing but when in her demon mode the allure was just too much and her feet moved on their own.

"Please guys, can we save this for another time…what about getting home in less than two minutes huh? Katsuro?"

"Give me fifteen seconds Mayomi-san, I'll finish this match by then and rush you home as promised", the boy said and winked at the girl.

Mayomi blushed and looked away.

"Fifteen seconds huh? Quite confident in yourself aren't you Katsuro?" Hisao chuckled but took the opportunity to swing his blade in just the perfect blind spot.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the grass beneath their feet start turning red. Eyes darted around and everyone gasped as an arm lay on the ground.

"KATSURO!" Mayomi pushed everyone aside as she fumbled under her feet to Katsuro's side. The boy lay on the ground unconscious, his arm two feet away from the rest of his body.

Tears started forming in the girl's eyes and she looked around frantically, her mouth moving but words were unable to come out.

"HISAO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Kenta and the two others gathered around the unconscious boy and all glared at the boy standing looking horrified. His katana still in hand.

"I…I…do..don't know…did I do this?"

The all looked at the boy with bewildered looks.

"OFCOURSE YOU DID YOU STUPID IDIOT, WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT?" the girl screamed as the words were now able to form.

Suddenly a light chuckle filled the silence.

Sunnora chanted the words from earlier but this time in reverse and appeared before the group.

"Are you sure these are your friends kid?" Sunnora questioned the boy, his mouth agape.

She continued, "Because they seriously wouldn't be the best choice when it comes to judgment", she looked away from the boy and faced the huddled crowd behind her.

"Look at his katana kids, do you see any drop of blood?" the demon saw the four pair of eyes shift to the katana in Hisao's grip.

"Exactly so now…who could have done it?" the demon goddess whistled innocently as she noticed the desperation of their brains trying to put two and two together.

Mayomi's eyes widened letting tears spill that she had been holding back, her hand lifted and a finger was pointed at the demon goddess.

"I..It w-was y-you", the girl whispered and everyone's eyes widened as they realized what she had been pointing to.

"BINGO! You kids aren't as dumb as I pegged you to be but you are all pretty stupid" and with that she lifted her katana over her head, blood dripping from the tip over her head.

"Now kiddies, who wants to volunteer to be next?"

Everyone paled at her words.

"Well at least you're not stupid enough to run", she chuckled, "because that's the sure fire way to be picked first".

That wasn't true, they all wanted to run but their bodies were frozen.

"Technically not first seeing as your friend there is already half dead, not sure if that really counts", the goddess let out a loud chuckle.

"W-Why are you doing this?!" Mayomi stated, obviously holding back her anger managing to keep her voice as calm as possible.

Sunnora raised her arms, palms out on either side of her face as if wrongly accused of something.

"Oh? Are you mad girly? I was only helping your friend here….weren't the rules of this little match to unarm the opponent?" she giggled and looked back to the boy.

"Looks like you won kid, no thanks is necessary" and a laughing fit from the demon goddess started as she turned back to the group.

Sunnora continued laughing but stopped when she felt a strong sensation reaching from her spine to the middle of her ribcage.

She looked down and noticed the large katana had been pierced through her body. The once clean katana was now covered in dark blood.

The group gasped at the scene before their eyes, when had this quiet evening of being a couple minutes late for curfew turned into this nightmare?

Sunnora coughed out the blood stuck in her throat.

She was actually quite surprised by this. Nothing like this had ever happened, no one had ever dared to attack the goddess but it seemed things ran a bit different in this realm.

Sunnora turned back to the boy and smiled, "I really underestimated you boy, I mean, you went from blah my mommy won't let me become a shinobi blah blah to stabbing a demon in the back".

Everyone had the same question swarming in their mind.

_'A demon?'_

"Seeing as you stabbed me how about I return the favor?" the katana in the demon's hand came forth with such speed that no one had any time to move, they all closed their eyes and awaited the worst.

But the worst never came.

Opening their eyes confusion surfaced as they saw the demon goddess clutching the ground in a fetal position. The katana she once held was now by her side.

"DAMN IT!" she screamed as the pain from earlier started up again.

The group took this chance as if they were witnessing a miracle and gathered their strength. The two girls collected the arm and Katsuro's katana as the boys lifted their still unconscious friend and ran as fast as they could from the frightening demon.

Sunnora watched as the group got further and further away from her and cursed her luck to hell.

The red demonic eyes gave way to clear blue and her pain lessened.

She sat up and grabbed her katana putting it back in its sheath.

She could quickly have caught up to them and killed them off but had now realized that it wasn't bad luck that had caused the pain to start at just that moment.

It was her father's doing.

"DAMN IT JASHIN!"

'_He's not going to let me kill until I take the order so typical of him'_

Sunnora stood and dusted her clothes.

"I always get so messy in that state", she said as she noticed the blood stains on her clothes.

"I agree Sunnora-sama"

She looked up, taking in the familiar robes and necklace with the family crest only devote Jashin worshippers were allowed to own. '_One of Jashin's priests_' she thought as she rolled her eyes.

"Sunnora-sama, sorry for the suddenness of the information but Jashin-sama has ordered me to inform you that you shall not be allowed to fulfill any killings until you agree to take the first issued order".

"Yes..I already realized as much"

"He also ordered me to warn you that the pain and duration will only increase"

The raven haired girl internally sighed.

"And if you can be so kind as to let me make a suggestion Sunnora-sama"

"What is it?"

"Please remove that katana from your chest, it makes me quite queasy" the priest said and turned his head.

Sunnora rolled her eyes and pulled the sword out, the slight sting making her narrow her eyes.

"Arigatou hime-sama, I will now take my leave", and with that the priest was gone from this realm leaving a light trace of purple glow.

She sat down and watched her body heal itself almost instantly, her ripped clothing also going back to as if the incident had never happened.

The goddess strolled along the forest for about thirty minutes until she was back to the spot of arrival. Noticing the scroll had not even moved an inch from when she had kicked it she picked it up and started the unsealing chant.

The scroll opened and the young goddess took in the information it held. A deep frown appearing on the calm flawless face.

"Oh you have to be freaking kidding me!"

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**Well that's it for Chapter 2, original Naruto characters will be appearing from chapter 3 and on. Thanks again, please review (:**


	3. The Unraveling

**Hi everyone, if you're still reading this story I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was one of the trickiest to write. Also I'd like to note that this is about the last chapter where the story is really dramatic, it will lighten up some with humor from here on out, already working on chapter 4! Well on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...**

(This Chapter is rated M for language)

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**Chapter 3: "The Unraveling"**

'_No….Way…..In…...Hell'_

Sunnora grabbed the scroll in both hands and tore it in two. The young raven haired goddess wanted to go ballistic and destroy everything she saw in her line of sight.

"Who the hell does he think he is!? That idiot! Why the hell does he think I would even go near tha-"

Falling to her knees in pain, the goddess internally rolled her eyes.

"OK I GET IT! WILL YOU SERIOUSLY STOP DOING THAT YOU BASTARD!" she screamed to no one in particular.

Getting up with a scowl the girl placed her hand over her stomach wrapping the slim fingers over her family emblem and pulled it from the silver that had held it in place.

Chanting a few words Sunnora lightly tossed it into the air and the emblem levitated before her eyes.

'_Let's get this over with'_

The young goddess followed the emblem around the woods for what seemed like hours. She sighed, '_why couldn't that bastard of a supposedly all mighty "god" transport me to a closer location'_

Sunnora couldn't help but take in the detail of the hovering piece in front of her. The circular hollow silver piece was not much larger than her palm. The triangle piece in the middle represented the ever never ending cycle of destruction, pain and death. The blue eyed girl frowned recalling how her father would always take such pride in the Drutalli line, a line born of pure destruction and bloodlust but she never saw the appeal in that way of life. A really really small part of her wanted peace and all the things that were forbidden in her realm like friendship, kindness, and most importantly, love.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

Sunnora was abruptly brought out of her thoughts when her face came in contact with a tree branch. She blushed looking around making sure no one saw that. She would kill whoever saw the almighty Sunnora Drutalli daughter of Jashin, God of blah blah…. point was she didn't want anyone seeing her in anything but her best, she hated being humiliated or laughed at most of all.

Sunnora quickly noticed that the emblem had stopped and let out a sigh of relief as that meant no more traveling through this dense forest area.

Repeating the chant backwards she saw the emblem fall to the ground.

Picking it up she placed it back over her naval and let the silver pieces hold it in place.

"Now that son of a bitch has to be buried somewhere around this area", the goddess looked around and noticed a patch of land that was different than the rest. Letting out a chuckle she walked to the uneven ground.

'_That dumb fuck, I don't know what happened but something tells me he's under my feet'_, the thought brought a grin to her face.

The young girl sighed and looked around.

'_Now how the hell am I going to get him out?'_she thought as she didn't come upon anything that could help her dig through the ground.

'_Well that iron maiden skill would come in handy I guess-'_but quickly dismissed the thought as she recalled that her father had warned her that if she used any demon skill for anything other than killing for a sacrifice it would come with serious consequences.

Sunnora groaned and inwardly cursed as she figured she'd have to manually dig him out.

"When I dig out that stupid fuck I'm going to punish him severely for making me go through this!" and with that the young goddess started pulling rocks and rubble from the sight.

After twenty minutes her hands were bloody and her muscles ached. She had been lifting rocks twice her weight and she had lost count of how many times the pain in her whole body would start up again and as a result would drop the rocks on her hands or feet.

She stepped back and inspected her work. Sunnora had definitely done some progress for the hole was deep enough that if she stepped inside it would reach to her shoulders.

"I really hope this hole isn't much deeper"

The young goddess considered taking a break but immediately recalled the priest's words from earlier.

"_He also ordered me to warn you that the pain and duration will only increase"_

With a deep breath she managed through the pain in her hands and continued with her work.

Sunnora was very relieved to find that the deeper she dug through the hole, the smaller the rocks became until it was practically all dirt. Instantly the goddess started scurrying the dirt with her nails until she noticed something sticking out, hesitating for a second she pulled out what looked to be like an arm.

After an hour of this she had managed to find everything but the head.

She was quite content that soon she would find the head and her order would be finished. Forcing her father to accept this and send her back home.

Jumping back in the hole she started the search for the missing head.

'_Maybe it's not even here, what if the person that did this took the head as a prize or something?' _she thought as she recalled her own realm's tradition of killing an enemy and taking the head, it wasn't something out of the ordinary.

Sunnora's train of thought was dismissed as she came upon the sight of silver hair.

The goddess of darkness grinned as she roughly pulled out the head from the ground as if it were a carrot.

She inspected the head closely and frowned.

'_Oh this is the right idiot alright'_

The head was quite dirty covering about eighty percent of his face in dirt; the silver hair was long and caked in mud. Eyes were closed, almost looked like he was dead.

'_I wish he was dead',_the young goddess thought as she threw the head above her, hearing the thump as it landed on the grass with the rest of the body parts.

Climbing out of the six foot hole the goddess inspected the mess. Body parts were lying in a pile by the hole. The head had rolled off to the side just a couple of feet from the rest of the body parts.

"What a mess, I really hope Jashin doesn't expect me to put him back together", crossing her arms over her chest the girl sat down on the grass, leaned back on a tree and waited.

After six minutes the goddess was fuming.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS TAKING YOU SO LONG!?" she shouted. Sunnora knew her father was probably watching so why hadn't he sent a priest to come take her back to her realm?.

'_This is the last time I do anything for that bastard; he can't even keep his own damn word'_

The young goddess was so angry she stood up and started pacing.

She glanced to her side and furrowed her brows.

'_Maybe he does expect me to put him back together, but to hell if he thinks I will or even can….how the fuck am I supposed to put this mess back together?!"_irritated out of her mind she was about to throw the disembodied man back in the hole just to piss off her father but stopped when she felt another presence behind her.

"Took you long enough", the goddess spoke as she looked over her shoulder to the man covered in black.

"I'm sorry Sunnora-sama but my order is not what you think it to be, I'm not here to take you back home, I'm here to give you another order from Jashin-sama"

The goddess was left speechless, mouth agape as she looked at the priest in front of her.

The priest knew this wasn't a good sign so continued to speak.

"Sunnora-sama, by the order of Jashin-sama you are to stay in this realm until he sees fit that you are deemed worthy to return"

'_Deemed worthy!?'_

"He suggests you stick close to this man" he motioned his gaze to the head on the ground.

He saw the goddess' eye twitch at the mention.

"Jashin-sama also ordered me to inform you that you are now once again able to kill as you so desire, so do us the great honor Sunnora-sama of sacrificing souls to our holy realm".

The priest had never seen the goddess like this, and it was quite unsettling.

"I will take my leave now hime-sama, please don't take this order as some sort of punishment, it is actually for your own benefit and one day when you return you will see it so"

Bright purple light surrounded the area and the priest disappeared.

Sunnora couldn't believe what just happened.

Her eyes darted from side to side trying to comprehend why her bastard of a father would do this to her. Sure she had threatened to kill him many times and he knew exactly just how much she loathed him but why leave her here? She knew her father would never do anything for her benefit.

…

Birds flew away from the sight that had alerted them of danger. A loud penetrating scream had awoken them only a few minutes before dawn.

The goddess was livid like she had never been before. Never in her life had she been this mad and now she was taking out her frustration on anything around her, her demon side showing its ugly head.

'_HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME!?, THAT ASSHOLE I'M GOING TO FIND A WAY TO KILL HIM FOR GOOD, THERE JUST HAS TO BE A WAY AND THEN I'M GOING TO BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE JUST TO KILL HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN AND' _the goddess started laughing as if she was going insane.

'_and now that I can once again kill' _she glanced to the ground, _'I'm going to start with him, he's immortal just like Jashin, if I find a way to kill him then I can use the same method to get rid of that bastard once and for all'_

Walking over slowly to her prey she picked up the head by the hair and smirked. She could feel the life energy coming from him, it was faint but it was there.

'_Oh this will be so much fu-'_

Sunnora dropped the head to the ground as something she had never seen in her life hit her whole face and body. It was foreign and nothing like this existed in her realm. She escaped to the safety of the shadows but it was all for nothing as the strange light of dawn had even penetrated the shadows. Her skin was burning and pain overtook her.

'_Is this why he kept me here?'_she thought as she fell to the ground most of her skin was set on fire. _'He let me stay here so he could kill me' _the young goddess smiled and closed her eyes.

'_Looks like you won father'_

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**Please Review! Chapter 4 should be posted very soon (:**


	4. The Reconnaissance

**Finally out! (:**

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**Chapter 4: "The ****Reconnaissance"**

"Did you guys hear that thing this morning?" the boy asked his friends as he tightened his scarf around his neck.

"Yeah it was so strange, whatever it was it must have been somewhere close because when I was walking my dog before I had to get ready for class I saw all the birds flying away from the direction of that noise, if I recall correctly it was just before dawn", the girl spoke adjusting her goggles.

The conversations around them were all brought to a stop as the door to the room was opened.

"Good morning children, take out your notes from yesterday as we are going to continue where we left off on our chakra lesson", the spiky haired teacher spoke to his students as he walked to the podium in the middle of the classroom.

A loud collective groan was emitted from every child.

"Ano Iruka-sensei, chakra is boring, when are we going learn how to use cool ninjutsu like Naruto nii-chan? Konohamaru stood up from his seat and pouted.

All the other children nodded their heads and audibly agreed with him, filling the classroom with a collective chatter.

Iruka sighed and waited until the multiple voices talking quieted down.

"Listen kids, first we have to start with the fundamentals, once you get those down, managing ninjutsu will be much easier, without chakra control ninjutsu will be very difficult to control", Iruka smiled at all the hesitant looks, "and that's what will start us off with chapter one on Chakra control".

Iruka was about to start the lesson but turned around to face his students as he recalled he forgot to take the attendance. "Okay kids bear with me one second, I have to take roll then we can begin with the lesson".

The children started talking among their small groups as Iruka took out a piece of paper and started checking off names as he looked at the children's faces. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the 5 empty seats.

Iruka cleared his throat and got the attention of every child. "Has anyone seen Mayomi-san, Katsuro-kun, Kenta-kun, Nori-san, or Juroi-kun?" Iruka voiced.

The kids looked from face to face seeing as if anyone had seen the group. A young girl with bright orange hair and rosy cheeks stood up and faced her sensei, "Iruka-sensei, I saw Mayomi-san yesterday, she stayed to help me practice my shuriken target practice after class and because of me she had to miss her curfew, it was pretty late, I offered to walk her home but the rest of the group you named and some other boy showed up and insisted on walking her home".

"Arigatou Moegi-san, I hope they show up tomorrow, this is a very important lesson and the faster we finish this the quicker I can start teaching you kids ninjutsu".

The whole class cheered and Iruka started teaching.

About 45 minutes into the lesson Iruka looked from the board covered in chakra notes to the kids behind him. Half were asleep and the other half were looking out the window or passing notes among themselves. Iruka sighed and clapped his hands waking up half the class and getting the attention of the rest. "You have half an hour for lunch, then we can pick up where we left off", Iruka watched slightly taken aback as he saw everyone move out of the classroom at super speed, some moving faster than some fellow jounin. The thought brought a smile to the man's face and headed to the teacher's lunchroom.

"Oi Konohamaru-kun I'll trade you my fish paste onigiri for your plum one", Udon said grabbing Konohamaru's onigiri and putting it under his nose to take in the sweet smell.

Moegi and Konohamaru watched in utter disgust as a long piece of snot landed on top of the rice ball.

"It smells so good! Please Konohamaru-kun!" The boy pleaded giving off his best puppy dog look.

The brown haired boy only nodded quickly, even though he hated fish paste, it was the best filling compared to snot covered rice ball.

Udon grinned, looking at the onigiri like a dog looks at a piece of meat.

"Itadakimasu!" and with that he stuffed the whole rice ball into his mouth, not once noticing the snot.

Moegi and Konohamaru only stared with wide eyes and tried not to barf at the sight.

"Oishii!" the boy said licking his fingers and looked to his friend who was now pale and wide eyed, "Konohamaru-kun, don't get mad but next time can you tell your mom to put less salt, it was a bit salty"

…

After they ate they walked around the school grounds, Udon kept telling them about his new pet turtle while Moegi and Konohamaru were too hungry to talk or care but couldn't seem to get their appetites back after the whole snot ball thing, just remembering that made them cringe.

Realizing lunch time was up they headed to their classroom. Almost everyone was already in their seats. Iruka walked in with a smile and was about to continue with the lesson when the door in the front was slowly opened revealing a gloomy looking girl with three other kids behind her.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at this and waited for them to walk to their seats. He was about to comment on their tardiness but noticed the whole demeanor these kids seemed to possess. All four of them had an almost invisible rain cloud over their heads; all of their eyes were dark and lifeless with dark circles around them as if they hadn't slept in a week. This was considerably strange as he remembered how only yesterday they had been the happiest kids in the room, always laughing and making jokes. Mayomi was walking up the stairs to her seat but tripped on the last one and collapsed.

Everyone snickered and Iruka immediately went to help the girl. She had scraped her knee and trickles of blood were coming from the wound. Iruka took out a bandage from his leg pouch and started wrapping it around her knee when she harshly pushed him away. Everyone's eyes widened except for the other three kids who had just walked into the room.

"Don't touch me! I just fell, nothing to be all worried about, it's n-not l-like like-" the girl sniffled as she clearly remembered the scene from just the night before, tears started rolling down her cheeks. She promised she wasn't going to cry in class but it was no use, Katsuro was in critical condition and instead of being in the hospital with him she had to come here.

"It's not like what Mayomi-san?" Iruka questioned her, his words dripping with concern. She stayed silent and everyone sat there motionless in the awkward silence. Iruka looked from Mayomi to Kenta, from Kenta to Nori, from Nori to Juroi, and then from Juroi to the empty seat beside him.

"By the way kids, where's Katsuro-kun?" the teacher asked still looking at the empty seat.

Four bodies stiffened at the words. Mayomi felt the tears increase and her sobs got louder. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE HE IS? WELL I'LL TELL YOU! HE'S IN THE HOSPITAL, AND INSTEAD OF BEING THERE WITH HIM WE HAD TO COME TO THIS CLASS WHERE WE DON'T KNOW IF HE'S DEAD OR NOT!"

The whole classroom sat with their mouth agape. Iruka was about to speak but the girl continued after a few seconds of loud sobbing. "YESTERDAY NO ONE WAS THERE TO HELP HIM, NO ONE BANDAGED HIM UP AFTER HE GOT HIS ARM CUT OFF, YOU THINK THIS WAS BAD?" she said pointing to her knee, "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIM, H-HE COULDN'T EVEN STAY CONCIOUS FROM THE AMOUNT OF BLOOD LOSS-"

Mayomi looked at the blood on her knee in disgust.

"W-we couldn't do anything for him", she said in a whisper, "when she showed up, out of nowhere, we couldn't have done a thing"

'_She?'_

"That girl hurt Katsuro kun and I'm going to make sure she pays for what she did to my friend, I don't care how long it takes, I want to see her get punished"

The stillness in the room only seemed to increase by the second. Some were holding in their breaths without realizing as to not disturb the silence.

"Mayomi-san, I'm not exactly sure what's going on but this sounds serious, where did this incident with Katsuro-kun occur?" Iruka had a very uneasy feeling about all this.

She sniffled a few times and spoke, "not too far from here it was about a 20 minute walk outside the main gates around the southeast forest where the shuriken target practice is held".

Iruka inwardly panicked. _'Why hasn't it been known about what happened to that boy? A lot more people could be at risk, I have to let the Hokage know right away'. _Iruka grabbed his folder and papers and started packing. He looked to the kids who had not moved an inch.

"Everyone, I have something I must do, it is now study period from now until class ends in an hour, you four that walked in late, come with me". He grabbed his stuff and walked to the door holding it open for the four kids to exit. A thud echoed the room, no one spoke, no one moved. Konohamaru stood up, his chair making a loud screeching sound that woke everyone up from their own thoughts. "Moegi, Udon, let's go, we have to tell Naruto nii-chan what happened". The two nodded and ran out the classroom.

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**Reviews are Welcomed!**


	5. The Reconnaissance part two

**Well this was originally going to be all one chapter, with the previous chapter...but it was getting too long so I decided to cut it into two parts, plus it's much easier to understand this way. Enjoy (:**

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**Chapter 5: "The Reconnaissance part 2"**

"Everyone, I have something I must do, it is now study period from now until class ends in an hour, you four that walked in late, come with me". He grabbed his stuff and walked to the door holding it open for the four kids to exit. A thud echoed the room, no one spoke, no one moved. Konohamaru stood up, his chair making a loud screeching sound that woke everyone up from their own thoughts. "Moegi, Udon, let's go, we have to tell Naruto nii-chan what happened". The two nodded and ran out the classroom.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei, where are we going?" Kenta asked to break the silence between them even though all four were wondering the same thing.

"We are going to the Hokage, we have to tell Tsunade-sama what happened" Iruka said walking briskly, wondering why hadn't anyone been questioned at the hospital or an alert been announced. Stuff like this wasn't taken lightly. Something strange was going on.

Stepping inside the Hokage tower the group made their way upstairs and Iruka spotted a familiar face. His pace increased as the woman turned a corner.

"W-wait- Shizune-san!"

The woman with short dark hair turned around with the familiar little pearl wearing pig in her arms. She noticed Iruka and smiled.

"Oh, Iruka-san, what brings you here?"

"Shizune-san, please, we have to see Tsunade-sama right away, it's urgent" Iruka saw the woman's eyes widen a bit and nodded a bit hesitantly, leading the group to the Hokage's office.

* * *

Tsunade looked at the pile of paperwork covering the majority of her desk and sighed. Being Hokage was not easy. She opened the hidden drawer in her desk and grinned as she spotted the lottery cards. The blonde woman looked at the 300 pages of paperwork Shizune had left for her to complete by this afternoon and then turned to face her completed work that consisted of one page. She sighed and smirked, _'well nothing wrong with taking a break'_she thought and pulled out the lottery cards.

Tsunade fumbled and audibly gasped as the door was thrown open.

"SHIZUNE WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT KNOCKING?!" Tsunade shouted, kicking the cards under her desk to hide them from the dark haired woman's view.

"Sorry about the intrusion Tsunade-sama, but Iruka has something to tell you, and he said it was urgent"

Tsunade looked at her and frowned, _'why can't there ever be any peace in Konoha'…_

"Let him in" Shizune stepped aside letting the five people enter the office, she closed the door and walked around them and stood by the desk deciding to ignore the deep scowl trying to erupt as she caught sight of the cards under the desk and Tsunade's "completed work" pile…

"What's the meaning of this visit Iruka?"

Iruka stiffened at the woman's stern look and coughed.

"Erm-Tsunade-sama, there seems to be something strange going on, yesterday one of my students was attacked and is currently in the hospital, I'm not sure of the details but these kids here-" Iruka motioned to the children standing behind him "were there when the incident took place, I have an uneasy feeling about all this, and what unnerves me the most is that the boy was injured just a couple of miles away from the academy, meaning there is danger just outside our gates, we can't allow any children, merchants or untrained people to step outside the village".

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow and nodded, "Iruka, do you have any specific details to provide?"

Iruka nodded and motioned towards the kids, "these children were present when this person attacked, maybe we could deduce who it was from what they saw".

Tsunade looked at the children and crossed her arms, "I agree, one of you kids step forth and tell me everything you know"

Mayomi stepped forward and spoke void of any emotion. "Hokage-sama, the girl that attacked Katsuro-kun was not human".

All the adults in the room looked at her with questioning gazes.

Iruka turned around to face the young girl, "do you mean she was a shinobi Mayomi-san?"

"No! I'm not an idiot Iruka-sensei, and shinobi are human too"

Iruka blushed and looked out the window. The girl frowned at her sensei and continued. "The girl we all saw was not from around here, or anywhere close to here, she was not human"

"What do you mean by that girl?" the Hokage demanded.

"Well it was all a blur, but I think she had black long hair, and she wore all black, h-her eyes", the girl paused as a shiver went down her spine "the one thing that I'll never be able to forget were her eyes…..s-she had r-red eyes, eyes I've never seen before"

Tsunade obviously ignoring most of what Mayomi was saying had her mind made up "Maybe it was a Kekkei Genkai, Shizune make a report on all known Kekkei Genkai with the description that matches -"

"You're not even listening to me! It wasn't anyone in Konoha, s-she wasn't human! She was a demon" Mayomi stated, interrupting the Hokage's orders. "You're not going to find anything if that's what you're basing your report on, s-she wasn't human! She was a demon-"the girl whispered the last part.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and looked to Iruka who was giving Mayomi a concerned look. Whatever she went through had messed with her reasoning, most likely all these kids.

"Iruka, I've heard enough, I will send out a group to investigate the incident, whoever this girl is, she shouldn't be that hard to find with the description Mayomi gave us, I will also form an investigative group to see if we can track where this girl is from, she's definitely not from Konoha".

"I just don't understand why anyone would attack a child, what could that enemy shinobi want with aggravating us? It makes no sense, if she wanted to infiltrate the village itself why draw attention to herself by attacking one of our own just outside the village?" Iruka questioned out loud.

"Shizune have these kids record everything they saw and experienced yesterday" she moved her gaze to the four kids, "don't leave out any detail, it could be very important in tracking her down".

They all nodded and Tsunade continued.

"Also Shizune, get me a list of all the available jounin and chuunin, we're going to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible"

**Yep, some lazy chuunin and jounin are going to get a new mission soon so no more slacking off. Also Sunnora and Hidan are appearing in the next chapter "The First Impression" so we're out of the village for the next one. Should be posted either in 2 days or next week :D**


	6. The First Impression

**Well I decided to upload this asap because I had more free time than I thought and it was already halfway written anyways xD so here it is chapter 6 (:**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not owned by me, if it was then Hidan would have obviously not been trapped under that hole and Lee would be his sidekick xD**

Rated M for Language- Yes, Hidan's mouth is even worse than Sunnora's….

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**Chapter 6: "The First Impression"**

'_I've been stuck down here for too fucking long, I'm even starting to feel normal again after having that shitload of rocks piled on me'_ purple eyes opened and couldn't believe the sight.

Cool air hit the pale flesh and the sounds of birds invaded the albino's ears.

"Please Jashin-sama don't let this be a dream", after several minutes of trying to wake himself up he finally let the joy sink in and started laughing for what seemed like hours.

'_I knew Jashin-sama would save me, after I figure out a way to get myself back to one piece I'm going to go on a killing spree to thank him, and I'll start with that fucking brat that put me in that damn hole' _he frowned recalling the past.

After forcing himself out of his thoughts the immortal noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

A couple of feet away from him there lay what seemed to be a young girl. Her whole body was covered in burn marks. She wore black leather like clothes that covered half her face and matched her dark shiny hair. He noticed a katana sheath sticking out under her.

'_Is this girl a shinobi? Is she the one that saved me? What the fuck happened, did someone burn her?'_ All the unanswered questions were starting to build up inside the Jashinist's head.

He heard a groan and realized it came from the girl.

'_That poor girl, she's still conscious, if you're going to kill someone at least do it right...amateurs'_

His thoughts shifted from his questions to amazement as he witnessed what seemed like a miracle, or a really useful jutsu. The girl that only seconds ago had been seconds from breathing her last breath was now being covered with light, her whole body was surrounded with the sunshine that shone over the land and was leaving behind what looked like new skin or repairing the burned one.

'_Who the fuck is this girl?'_

In only a minute the burned red skin had returned to the pale flawless skin it must have once been. She stirred and opened her eyes. Light blue eyes looked at her surroundings and noticed the brightness, and the many beautiful colors. Sunnora sighed and smiled, she pulled the material that covered her mouth down to her neck and took in the air. It was all so lovely. Her eyes widened as she heard a rough voice nearby.

"Oi, girl…wake up I have a lot of questions to ask you"

The goddess shifted her head to the side to see who the voice belonged to. Bright blue eyes widened as she saw a head on the grass…

Just the head.

Sunnora screamed and ran behind a tree, leaning over so only her head could be seen by the head.

"W-Who a-are you? N-no w-what are you? She questioned her voice cracking.

The head rolled his eyes and sighed. _'Great, I have to deal with some stupid girl'_

"Just come over here, I won't hurt you…I just need-"

The head stopped talking as he saw the girl step away from behind the tree and walk towards him. _'Well that was easy'_

"I'm sorry" she said as she stood before him, "you just caught me off guard you know, I've never seen a talking head, well I mean all heads talk, well not all heads I guess, just haven't seen one talking without a body but I'm sure whatever you are is normal, oh I'm sorry I'm just rambling" she started laughing quietly.

'_what the fuck is this girl talking about? Just my luck, to be stuck here having to listen to this brainless chick without being able to kill her...or at least walk away' _the head groaned out loud.

"Oi, idiot, can you shut up for one second and pick me up, or want me to stare at your damn feet all day?"

Sunnora laughed again.

"Oh yes, sorry" she said picking up the head.

He looked at the girl intently, now that he got a better look at her she wasn't half bad looking. She had clear pale skin, long black hair and bright blue eyes. Her eyes showed kindness and her smile was like no other. '_Oh how I'd love to see if the stupid girl would smile after I sacrificed her to Jashin-sama'_. The thought brought a grin to his face which was replaced with annoyance as the girl shook the head in her hands.

"What the fuck! It's my head you're carrying be more damn careful!"

"Sorry! Umm mister but I was talking to you then you just had this creepy look on your face, thought there was something wrong with you"

"There is nothing fucking wrong with me other than the fact that I have to put up with your dumb ass!" the girl looked lost.

"Umm… what?" she said with a smile.

"Ughh you really are stupid, answer my questions and I might consider not sacrificing you to Jashin-sama"

'_yeah right I'm definitely going to sacrifice her'_

"Jashin-sama?" Sunnora asked, adopting her lost puppy look.

"Shut up girl, I do the questioning around here"

"Umm…okay" again the young girl smiled at the rude talking head.

"Good, now.. what's your name?"

The girl placed her finger on her cheek as if in thought and thus let the head fall to the ground with a thump.

"THE FUCK!" the head screamed, startling the girl from her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" picking up the head she moved her hand across his face to remove some of the dirt not once realizing the dirt wasn't coming off.

The girl let out a whimper and widened her eyes at the pissed off looking head.

"OW! Y-You bit me!" Sunnora said as she pulled her hand away.

"Of course I did you stupid idiot! You just dusted me off!"

The girl smiled and sat down leaning against a tree pulling her knees in, placing the head on her knees for a face to face level.

"Well I don't really know what my name is, maybe I don't have one, hey mister do you know what my name is?"

The head rolled his eyes.

"You really are dumb, why would I ask what your damn name is if I already knew it?"

She laughed and shook her head.

"Oh yes, that wouldn't make sense"

The head grinned as he had an idea.

"Actually I do know your name; I must have forgotten too, you know with being only a head and all" the head gave off the most innocent face with the saddest tone he could muster.

"Oh really?!" the girl smiled even larger showing off all her pearly teeth.

"Yep, your name is dipshit"

...

"Dipshit?" Sunnora rolled the name around testing it out on her own tongue then grinned "…I like it!"

The head snickered, feeling water on the ends of his eyes. _'I'm going to have so much fun with this one'_

"I knew you would you stupid girl" he said with a grin. "Okay now second question, what happened here?"

The girl looked around her, for the first time taking in the scenery.

The land was completely destroyed, rocks and dirt everywhere, trees broken in half like twigs, it looked like a warzone. To Sunnora it didn't look bad; she thought it was beautiful nonetheless.

"I'm not sure mister" she paused, "all I know is I woke up after hearing your voice"

"Do you know anything?" the head said with growing irritation.

"I know you're definitely the only talking head I've ever met…oh! And I also know I'm dipshit"

The head snickered, the tears escaping _'oh I'll never get tired of that'_

The girl laughed too, not really knowing why they were laughing.

"okay dipshit, you know you're not too bad, I might even consider not killing you" _'for real this time' _he thought.

"Why would you kill me?"

"To sacrifice you to Jashin-sama"

"Jashin-sama?" Sunnora stared off "I think I've heard that name before.."

The head gave the girl a quizzical look.

"You have?"

Most people ignored him or made fun of him whenever he brought up his God's name or details about his religion, no one had ever said they had heard of him, so that surprised him.

"Yep, he sounds familiar", the girl smiled at him again and continued "oi mister, can I ask you a question?"

The head frowned but dismissed it, "yeah sure, whatever, what is it?"

"What's your name?"

"Hidan"

"Hidan? Well Hidan, it's very nice meeting you", she said, giving the head another heartwarming smile.

"yeah well it's Hidan-sama to you"

"ooh ohh" the girl spoke as if remembering something.

"yeah? What is it? Do you remember what happened here?"

"No, but I also wanted to ask, what happened to you?"

The frown returned on Hidan's face. "None of your business girl, now I'll spare your life if you can put me back together you obviously know how, I saw that thing you did"

"What thing?" the young girl really wanted to help the first person she had ever met but she didn't know how, and she didn't know what Hidan was referring to.

"Don't act dumb-" he paused. _'wait she's not acting'_

He continued, "when I first saw you, you were covered in burn marks, like all over your body, you were severely burned, any regular shinobi would have died of burns that severe, but you just healed yourself somehow with that jutsu you have, it's freaky but I want to know how you did it"

"I was burned?"

"Yes dipshit, isn't that what I just said?"

The young girl inspected her arms; there sure wasn't any kind of scars that proved she had been burned.

"You lie!" the girl said shaking her head at Hidan with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm not lying!"

"Well Hidan-sama, I guess I can try, I'm not sure what I did though"

"Yeah whatever, just grab the rest of me-"he paused as he saw the rest of his body in a pile on the grass. Anger rose within him, "THE FUCK! Whoever dug me up is going to get sacrificed, leaving my body in a pile like that; it looks like it's fucking garbage! FUCK!"

The girl got up and made her way to the pile placing the head on the grass gently and placing the body parts together as if it were a puzzle. Hidan just watched the girl, if she really could put him back together he wouldn't sacrifice her, she would come in handy now that Kakuzu was nowhere to be seen.

After a couple of minutes the pile was no more and each piece had been arranged on the grass, almost looked like Hidan was just lying down casually.

The goddess got on her knees and adopted a worrisome expression on her face.

"I'm not sure what to do Hidan-sama, are you sure I could heal?"

"Yes I'm sure now hurry up!" Hidan said with excitement and anticipation in his voice, he couldn't wait to move and walk again. He really needed to go on a killing spree to cheer him up.

The girl sighed and placed her hands hovering over Hidan's chest.

-Five minutes later-

"This isn't working" the girl spoke sadly.

"Well no fuck genius, it's not working" Hidan groaned sarcastically.

"Umm…I just said that"

Hidan gave the young girl a WTF look and took a deep breath. Not killing this girl was going to be harder than he thought.

"Just keep trying" Hidan said taking in another deep breath.

She looked at him, again rewarding him with another heartwarming smile; she nodded and placed her hands above him. _'If he's not giving up neither am I, he may say some weird things that I don't understand from time to time but I really want to help him, I don't know what it is about him but something tells me that I must help him, please give me strength'_

Two sets of eyes widened as a soft purple glow covered her palms. The purple light immediately made Hidan feel so much better.

Sunnora was completely relieved and had never experienced this kind of happiness before.

Sure enough the skin was beginning to repair itself under the light. Hidan sighed in relief as he saw his tattered skin begin to lose the burn marks.

Hidan moved his arms and legs, it had taken awhile but as time progressed the purple light from the girl's palms had gotten stronger and soon enough the light had covered his whole body making the process that much faster. What would have taken days to repair had taken about fifteen minutes.

The whole time Hidan stared at this strange shinobi girl in awe, questions swarming in his head.

Her healing skills were like nothing he had ever witnessed before. After inspecting his body he swore it was as if nothing had happened he didn't know what kind of jutsu this was, he didn't even see her make any hand signs. Sure the obvious dirty look remained but there were no visible scars or stitches.

The girl had fallen asleep after she had finished healing Hidan; obviously the jutsu she used had taken a lot out of her. The sun was at its strongest and Hidan decided to carry the girl to a new location, away from the messy warzone like scene and maybe take a bath to wash off all the caked on dirt off his hair and body. He adjusted his cloak and moved closer to the girl about to pick her up when he spotted something on the girl that made his eyes bulge out.

A silver hollow circle with a triangle encased inside.

* * *

**dun dun dun! I know you might be confused about the whole Sunnora thing but it will be explained soon. Next chapter will be up next week, let's wait and see who Tsunade picks for this mission to track down the evil demon ^-^**

**Also let me know through review or pm on who you would like to see be picked to be part of the mission if you have a favorite (:**


	7. The Missing Jinchūriki

**Yay finally posted a new chapter xD it was taking me quite a while but it's up. I will probably decide who Tsunade picks for the mission by the next chapter and if not then definitely by chapter 9, so if you have a favorite Chūnin or Jōnin that you'd like to see (read) in the story then let me know soon (: Also I'm sorry if you're a big Ebisu fan, because i will make fun of him in this chapter. (: he's just so uptight all the time I love it xD**

**Disclaimer- No, Naruto is not mine...**

* * *

**Chapter 7: "The Missing Jinchūriki"**

"I already looked there!" Udon whined as he was ordered to once again look in the Ichiraku Ramen shop for the fourth time.

"He goes there all the time, just look again!" Konohamaru was tired and was definitely at his last nerve. The group that consisted of Udon, Moegi, and himself had had no luck finding Naruto. They had searched for an hour at his usual spots, his apartment, the ramen shop, the hospital, and the whole downtown area; all of which led to more whining from the two and a very irritated Konohamaru.

"Let's give up already, he's obviously not around here" Moegi said coming out of one of the pastry shops Naruto usually visited. Moegi and Udon gave Konohamaru their best puppy dog look and he sighed. He couldn't resist his friends sometimes, nodding in a defeated manner; the short boy started walking back to the academy with his friends in tact when he heard a familiar voice that made him scowl.

"Omago-sama, what are you doing here? Why aren't you at the academy?" the panicking voice belonged to none other than his personal sensei, Ebisu. The tall thin man with round dark glasses went from panic to irritation as he figured out they must have skipped class today.

"This isn't how the honorable grandson of the third Hokage should act, haven't I taught you better?"

Konohamaru scowled and was about to state his case when another voice disturbed him.

"Konohamaru-kun?"

The boy looked to his right and saw a very pissed off looking Iruka coming their way, no doubt that he would give them detention for a month if he knew they left class, but the face lost its threatening demeanor when he also spotted Ebisu.

"Ebisu-san? What are you doing here with these kids?" Iruka questioned; had something happened while he was gone?

"W-well"…Ebisu paused to adjust his glasses but caught the glance of Konohamaru, he looked quite distressed, Ebisu was used to seeing Konohamaru get scolded by his academy teacher as well as the detention but he had never seen Konohamaru this way, it unnerved him greatly. _'Maybe it's best to get the whole story from Konohamaru-kun before jumping to conclusions' _

Ebisu cleared his throat and was stoned set on his objective, his shinobi trained brain kicked in.

"Yes, well, I-I had um-"

Konohamaru saw the true intent behind Ebisu's words.

'_He's trying to cover for us, you're the best Ebisu-sensei'_ Konohamaru thought with an internal admiration.

The young genin smiled at his sensei and decided to help the struggling shinobi.

"Iruka-sensei, Ebisu went to go get us from the academy because he-um he" Konohamaru looked around the crowded streets of Konoha to see anything that could help him with the excuse he was giving his teacher and then he thought of a great one as he remembered what he had in his bag, "he forgot he lent me these" the young boy pulled his backpack from his shoulders and opened it revealing a skinny book and some papers in a folder.

Ebisu smiled at his young clever apprentice and nodded at the confused Iruka before him, taking hold of the objects in Konohamaru's hand.

"Oh thank you Omago-sama I forgot we were looking at these yesterday and I let you borrow them, Iruka-san, I needed these documents urgently for you see they-", If Ebisu had one regret in his whole life it was opening that folder and book.

Everyone would have seen the stoic shinobi's eyes bulge out of their sockets if it hadn't been for the round dark glasses hiding them. He was so confused and mortified he wanted to disappear. For the 'books' and 'documents' were actually what looked to be very graphic pictures of many naked female forms to put it in euphemistic terms.

Everyone huddled in the group got a very good glimpse of the images before Ebisu had closed it like his life depended on it. Konohamaru and his friends gave Ebisu a strange look while Iruka was very irritated. All he could think of was why had Ebisu lent Konohamaru those things in the first place..seriously!

"I-I…I'm…I-"

It was the most awkward moment in history, they all just stood there staring blankly at Ebisu who was now sweating out of every pore in his body and visibly shaking, his brain going frantic trying to think of anything he could say or do that wouldn't make him look like a pervert/pedophile in front of his fellow Iruka.

It wasn't working, and Iruka was now really regretting taking the shortcut back to the academy so he could have dodged this whole ordeal and mostly finding out his respected fellow was a closet freak.

Iruka decided it was time to head back to class and see if anyone else had decided to leave early. He'd deal with all this later, and try to block it out of his mind somehow.

"Yes, well I have to go", he looked to the three children standing to his right, "Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon"

"Hai sensei", the three said in unison straightening their posture.

"I will give you all a week of detention, would have been a month but Ebisu did have a…reason"

He decided to leave the 'good' out of his sentence. The spiky haired teacher nodded at the three genin and nodded at Ebisu but kept his eyes away from the man, he really didn't feel comfortable looking him in the eye just quite yet.

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon stared after their teacher until he disappeared from sight and then turned to Ebisu. The sweating was still there and the pity look from the three remained as they saw the man glaring at the folder as if trying to burn it with his eyes.

Enough was enough.

"Ebisu-sense-", Konohamaru couldn't get out much as he was quickly interrupted by his sweat covered teacher.

"Konohamaru-kun!" the voice was squeaky and alarming; the man cleared his throat and continued. "Where did you get these?" the slim man held it up but urgently brought it back down as a bit of the folder opened.

Konohamaru's eyes squinted as he tried to remember.

* * *

-24 hours ago-

"_Konohamaru-kun!"_

_The boy recognized the deep voice instantly; he had always been friendly with the man as he had always been around his grandfather. _

"_What are you doing here Jiraiya-san?" _

"_Oh I need you to do me a big favor boy, you see I'm going on a mission and Kakashi-san is quite busy at the moment and I can't disturb him so I need you to deliver these to him whenever you see him"_

_Jiraiya pulled out a folder and a slim hard covered book from his back. He handed it to the boy with a knowing smirk for he knew the boy had always been the curious type._

"_Don't hesitate boy; if you're curious go ahead and look, even young boys like yourself should be informed in the marvels and wonders that this world has to offer"._

_Truth be told Konohamaru wasn't really that interested in the contents of the folder or book he thought it would be boring mission files that adults usually handled so when the tall white haired sennin spoke of these 'marvels and wonders' he was now really intrigued. _

_Jiraiya smirked at the boy and looked over his shoulder as he opened the folder._

* * *

He remembered being very disappointed after opening the folder; he thought it would be a cool new ninjutsu or something along those lines. He told Ebisu the story and really wasn't sure why everyone was over reacting. He didn't get what the big deal was about, or why Jiraiya had been acting like such a fool, he had always been exposed to these sorts of things; he had mastered one particular jutsu just like Naruto in this exact aspect and was damn proud of it too. _'Adults are so weird sometimes' _he thought rolling his eyes.

After Ebisu had calmed himself down as best he could and had added Jiraiya to his 'list' they carried on and got back on track to the reason he had covered up for the kids in the first place.

"Omago-sama, why are you and your friends skipping school?"

The boy's once calm face was now alert and vigilant. "Ebisu-sensei, we need to find Naruto-nii-chan, there is something strange going around Konoha and we-" he spread his arms wide motioning to his friends and Ebisu "need to protect the village, and I know I can count on Naruto nii-chan".

The man unconcerned and aloof as ever decided to go along with this a little more as Konohamaru had given him the details as they walked.

"Okay omago-sama, I know I can trust you and have always respected your word, so that's why I'll lead you to Naruto"

"You know where he is Ebisu-sensei?" the boy's eyes lightened up in an instant at the words.

"Yep, he's at the training grounds with Kakashi-senpai and Yamato-san, he's quite busy I hear but I think you can manage to tell him what's going on, if what you tell me is correct and no one is doing anything about this incident then Naruto-kun is your best choice".

Konohamaru nodded and followed his teacher and friends to the training grounds.

* * *

**Next chapter will either feature Hidan and Sunnora or Tsunade and the new mission candidates (: again sorry Ebisu-san, you're awesome!**

**Review and let me know who you'd like to see for the mission ^-^**

**(and to Gaarasgirl23- no I can't add Gaara to the mission, has to be someone from Konoha, lol just letting you know) **

**thanks everyone for reading!**


	8. The Secret Plan

**Yeah this is a short chapter, and I will include the second part to this later but I wanted to upload this part now. Thanks for reading everyone, enjoy! ^-^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

Rated M for language (If Hidan is in the chapter you can pretty much just expect this)

* * *

**Chapter 8: "The Secret Plan"**

The girl had fallen asleep after she had finished healing Hidan; obviously the jutsu she used had taken a lot out of her. The sun was at its strongest and Hidan decided to carry the girl to a new location, away from the messy warzone like scene and maybe take a bath to wash off all the caked on dirt off his hair and body. He adjusted his cloak and moved closer to the girl about to pick her up when he spotted something on the girl that made his eyes bulge out.

A silver hollow circle with a triangle encased inside.

The albino man blinked several times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. He convinced himself that being stuck in that hole had affected his eyes somehow. It would make much more sense than seeing this dumb girl was a Jashinist. No way had this girl ever killed anyone, and the healing ability she possessed was the opposite of what Jashinism was about.

Hidan tightened his grip around his own pendant around his neck and inspected it closely, and sure enough they were identical.

It took several minutes for the information to process and he decided his next plan.

"Get up!" he commanded to the sleeping girl on the grass. She rolled over and smiled at him.

'_Why is she smiling? No one smiles after being woken up like that'_

"Looks like you're going to be just fine Hidan-sama, you're already standing up and walking, I'm so happy for you".

"Yeah yeah, shut up, we're going into town, I need to get some… information"

"Oh, okay" it now annoyed him so much that that smile never left her face.

As they walked he decided he could get some information out of her now, before his real plan could be put into action.

"So what's that thing on your clothes?" he asked going for nonchalance.

Sunnora looked down and for the first time noticed the silver piece over her naval and her slim fingers curved over the piece.

Hidan took in the shocked expression on the girls face and she roughly pulled her hand away, he made note of that.

"What happened?" he asked taking her hand in his and inspecting it, sure enough it was slightly red.

"I-I don't know, i-it burned me I think, it felt like I was being shocked"

"Interesting"

She gave him a pouted look and he sighed "If it hurts why don't you heal it?"

She looked at him and smiled.

"Its fine, the pain already passed, plus I want to save what little energy I have left just in case you get hurt"

He laughed and pulled his chest out a little.

"I'm not weak girl, I don't know what village you're from seeing as you're not wearing a headband or what rank you are either but I'm an S-class don't think little of me"

"I'm not sure what that means, but that's good to hear Hidan-sama, the less chance there is for you to get injured the happier I'll be"

'_Why is she talking like that? This girl barely knows me, I even threatened to kill her not many hours ago, the chance of her being a Jashinist just keeps dropping and dropping every time she talks but I have to be 100% sure I can't just jump to conclusions_' he smirked recalling how Kakuzu would always scold at him for his suddenness but now he was going to be cautious.

They were soon at a small town around the border of the Land of Fire.

Hidan looked at the girl behind him one more time before leading them into a crowded and very familiar bar. Kakuzu always paid this bar a visit every time they were in the area; it had the reputation for having the biggest of criminals or people willing to pay to have someone 'erased'.

'_This will definitely work, my plan is foolproof'_Hidan thought to himself with an evil smirk.

As they walked in Hidan grinned, already his plan was going in the right direction. Every man in the bar eyed the teenage girl, some with hungry eyes, some with anger, and others with indifference.

He stood in the middle of the bar with the girl by his side. He looked at her as she smiled at every man and just took in the atmosphere, not once noticing the hostility.

Hidan rolled his eyes and set the second part of his plan into motion.

"Okay dipshit, I need to go to the bathroom, you wait here for me got it?"

She nodded at him and looked after him as he walked away.

Once he knew he was out of her sight he turned the corner and hid among the others in the bar area where he knew he could see her but she wouldn't be able to spot him and just watched the show he was sure would happen.

He looked around the bar and heard the conversations.

"Heeey… that g-girl is really cute hehehe" some drunken guy said. Hidan smiled, he loved when things went his way.

And sure enough it did.

Some man almost ten times her size walked up to her and frowned. "What are you doing here pipsqueak don't you see this is the place only men are allowed in, and you know what the initiation process is"

Sunnora eyed the man with curious eyes and shook her head, again never taking in the hostile tone.

"You have to kill someone, now get out of here before I really get mad and decide my 204th kill isn't enough and want to make you my 205th"

The big man looked to his side as another guy about half his size put his arm on the man's shoulder.

"Stop it Ryota! Don't you see she's not here to kill anyone? She's here to offer her services, aren't you sweetheart?" the man smirked and many other males nearby looked at her closely awaiting her reaction.

"Services?" She didn't know what they were talking about but kept smiling at the men, _'What could he mean by services? I don't know how to respond to that'_but just like that she noticed that many of the men she was looking at had deep cuts all over their bodies, some still bleeding. _'They must mean they need my healing service'_ she thought as it all clicked in her mind.

"Yes I would be more than happy to offer my services to you mister" she looked from him to every other male around her "and any other person here of course"

Hidan groaned out loud as he saw many guys stand from their booths or from the bar to approach the dark haired girl _'and brainless'_ Hidan thought as he got up from his hidden location, _'this isn't how it was supposed to go, she's so stupid, well at least now I know...a real Jashinist would have killed anyone that threatened them like that, she's definitely not what I thought she was'._

"Hidan welcome back" Sunnora said out loud as she saw a very pissed off looking Hidan heading her way.

"You idiot! Why did you have to say that?!" he said loudly for everyone to hear and placed both his hands on her shoulders shaking her a bit.

The girl gave him a curious look before Hidan felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey boy, why don't you get out of the fucking way, you heard the lady she said she wanted us all and I don't like waiting"

'_This is definitely not what I planned' _Hidan groaned and quickly snatched one of the nearby bottles breaking it halfway on the edge of the table.

"Back away fucker, she's with me" many of them backed away noticing for the first time the silver hair, the pendent but most of all, the black cloak with red cloud pattern.

"S-sorry Hidan, I-we didn't recognize you, w-we thought you were dead"

"I'm obviously not dead seeing as I'm standing right here you stupid fuck!"

Sunnora stood back and watched in amazement as all the guys that had been up and coming their way with menacing and hungry looks were now backing away like dogs with their tails between their legs.

Suddenly from the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of something that made her heart sink.

The raven haired girl gasped and automatically threw her body between the incoming object and the silver haired man behind her.

* * *

**Tell me what you think (: Part Two will be uploaded soon, also this is the last chance to give me input on who you'd like to see for the mission so drop a review or PM and let me know who you'd like to take part :D**


	9. The Result

**Okay here is the second part to the last chapter, it was originally going to be all one chapter but I didn't have time to proof read it before class so had to split it into two. Hope you like, next chapter should be uploaded in a day or two. Thanks for reading everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Rated M for language **

* * *

**Chapter 9: "The Result" **

"Oi Yasu what the hell are you doing here" the tall well built man covered in tan fabric asked the man that had just walked into the bar.

"Don't call me that Toshio, I-I'm incognito" responded Yasu with a hushed tone as he made his way to the bar taking the seat next to Toshio.

The man laughed and downed the rest of his beverage, "I don't know why you even try anymore, you know the rules here, you can only come into this place if you have taken a life".

"Well I'll get around to it Toshio, I just need time to find the right person, I haven't always been a criminal like you after all"

Toshio just looked bewildered at what the smaller man had said but chuckled when he saw the 'don't kill me look' on his face.

"Yeah well knowing you the 'right' person is probably someone that's already dying, and even then you probably wouldn't even go through with it, plus I would think you'd learn to stay out of here after what happened last time".

"Don't remind me" Yasu wined and held his back, "I can't even sleep half the time because that idiot Ryota broke my spine".

"So why did you come in here, you know, Ryota and his gang are here if he sees you again he'll definitely kill you, I won't rat you out though, just because I've always hated that guy but I won't help you either if he catches you".

"…wow you're such a good friend Toshio" Yasu said with sarcasm dripping from his words.

"I don't know why you insist on becoming a criminal anyway, you used to be such a good farmer, you can't even fight to save your life, and you definitely always back out at the last minute of any robbery so why put up the act?"

"You know what happened to my farm, it got burned by Ryota's gang because I couldn't come up with the money to pay him back, now nothing will grow, the soil is unusable and that was my only way of income, I need to feed my family Toshio, you know how rough it is nowadays and if I can make a name for myself then one of these gangs will ask me to join them and I'll be able to have money to spare, I don't have any other choice"

Toshio knew the situation with his once close friend, he knew the life of a criminal was tough; he had been one since he was a child but Yasu just wasn't the type to be caught up in all this, he didn't have it in him. He knew that he came here every day just so that the main gang leaders would know his face and maybe talk to him to let him join but it had been months now and nothing had happened.

Toshio was pulled out of his thoughts when the bright sun infiltrated the otherwise dark gloomy bar. Eyes narrowed trying to make out the two figures that had just walked in. One looked to be like a man in his early twenties, he had silver hair sticking out everywhere with a dark caked on mud on the ends and roots, he was wearing a black cloak but the glare from the sun was too much, he couldn't get that good of a glimpse. He definitely looked like he belonged here. The other one not so much, it looked to be a girl in her late teens, a little taller than most girls her age, wearing a black midriff top covering her arms all the way to her wrist and matching skirt with something shiny between the two pieces of clothing. She had dark straight hair and light clear blue eyes. The guy with the black cloak walked away from her, _'oh now she's in trouble' _he thought to himself.

What caught him off guard was when she looked his way and smiled at him when she caught him staring at her. _'That was odd, no one smiles here, what the hell is that girl thinking coming in this bar?' _

Some drunken guy next to him tapped him on the shoulder.

"Heeey… that g-girl is really cute hehehe" Toshio turned away when the man started chuckling; his alcohol breath was too much.

Yasu watched with his old friend next to him as Ryota of all people stood up and confronted the girl.

"This is not good Toshio, we need to do something, Ryota has killed girls like her before for just glancing his way, he will definitely kill her for coming in here", Toshio sighed at his idiotic good natured friend.

"We can't do anything, Ryota is untouchable to us, you know very well there are only a very limited number of individuals that can take Ryota on, the only ones that can beat him are the S rank and we are definitely not S ranked, plus you're incognito remember, he'll know it's you if you go over there, and anyways I wouldn't help her even if I could, it's her fault for coming in here, she deserves what she gets" Yasu frowned at the cold hearted guy sitting next to him.

'_Of course everyone here would be cold hearted, look where you're at Yasu it's not strange for these guys to see someone getting killed in front of them, they're not going to risk their lives' to play the hero they're a bunch of criminals…wait I'm a criminal too now', _Yasu slumped in his chair at the realization.

Suddenly some slimmer man half the size of Ryota came up next to him, he recognized the guy, it was Ryota's right hand man, he did most of the dirty work for the gang; and was also renowned to be a huge lady's man.

He heard the conversation clearly and everyone's eyes widened when they heard the girl's response to the question she had been asked. _'She's here to offer her services? But she doesn't seem like a-'_

Many of the men around him stood from their seats and started walking towards the girl who was still smiling at them. Yasu stood up as well, he didn't want the girl to get hurt, he didn't know much about her or the situation but one thing had finally dawned on him, and that was that he wasn't a criminal.

He grabbed the knife hidden in his cloak and dashed toward the direction of the man that had just shaken her violently, he wasn't really taking in the situation but something told him he needed to protect this girl. A lot of the men that had headed in the direction of the girl were now returning to their seats, whoever this silver haired guy was didn't look all that intimidating, but then again, most of them never did. Plus he never really knew that much about whom most of these criminals were, he just knew the big gang heads.

Yasu lunged his knife in front of him when he saw the man in clear sight.

Yasu winced when he felt the knife go through skin and into the man.

Sunnora's eyes opened sharply when she felt the cold steel of the knife break through her skin. Hidan and many of the men in the bar stood there motionless.

Yasu opened his eyes ready to flee with the girl out of the bar into a safe place but what he saw wasn't what he was expecting to see.

'_The girl…I stabbed the girl, but how! I was sure I had the man in target he had his face turned there's no way he could have done anything, he couldn't have moved….how did this happen! Unless she-" _

Yasu fell to the floor in pure shock and he watched as the silver haired man pulled him up by the cloak and placed a broken glass bottle next to his neck.

"You stupid fuck, did you honestly think you could have killed me with that, I know you were trying to kill me but it looks like you stabbed the wrong person!" Hidan laughed maniacally.

Yasu never taking his eyes off the girl behind the crazy silver haired man, she had her head down, he could tell her breathing was labored. _'Why did it have to come to this, why did she protect him?'_

Hidan was about to slit the guy's throat when he felt a warm hand on his wrist. He looked to the side and saw Sunnora's face; she wasn't smiling like usual which unnerved him greatly.

"Hidan-sama please let this man go"

"W-What!? He just stabbed you!" Hidan didn't move an inch at Sunnora's request; he just pushed the cold glass harder against the man's neck.

"I know but I can tell this man has a pure heart, please Hidan-sama let him go, I will be okay", he knew she would be fine, she may not be a full-fledged Jashinist like he initially thought but one thing they had in common was that they were both hard as hell to kill, he thought with a grin on his face.

Hidan looked into the girl's eyes, he could tell she was being sincere, and taking in one last look at the frightened man in his clutches he decided he didn't want to sacrifice such a sorry excuse of a man to his God anyways.

"Ugh-fine but you owe me"

Sunnora smiled up at him and saw the man in Hidan's clutch had already fainted from the situation in front of him.

Hidan and Sunnora watched some guy walk up to them and carry the fainted Yasu on his back.

"Hello I'm Toshio Yama, I will take care of him, I know where he lives"

Sunnora followed the man out of the bar with Hidan. "Please Toshio-san would you mind if I came along I just want to make sure he's okay"

Toshio looked down at the girl and nodded, _'she sure is a strange one'_

"What about you girl? I saw you get stabbed, did it not hit your heart? I was pretty sure it did, well it looked that way from my angle" Toshio asked.

"Oh it did", Sunnora said with a smile, "but I'll be fine, don't worry about me, let's hurry and get this guy home"

Hidan furrowed his brow but an idea came to his head. "Dipshit, you can go ahead and go make sure that guy's okay, I'll stay here for a bit and catch up with you later"

Toshio gave Hidan directions to the farm and the three figures disappeared from sight.

Hidan smirked and walked back into the bar, _'what's one sacrifice gone when I can have 100 of them without that girl meddling' _he said with a snicker as he took out the katana that he had taken from Sunnora's back when she wasn't paying attention.

"This will be fun".

* * *

Hidan walked back slowly to the farm Toshio had mentioned was Yasu's. The sun was about to set and it would be hard to find the farm with no light so he hurried.

Sunnora was waiting for him just outside the farm entrance.

"Oh! Hidan-sama I'm glad you're here, you just missed Toshio-san he had to leave but they were both very lovely people, Toshio-san and Yasu-san. Yasu-san said if you'd like we can stay the night with him and his family".

'_Is that guy serious? I threatened to kill him and he still invites us to stay, people are so stupid' _Hidan thought it over; well it would be convenient-

"I think it would be a good idea if we stay and help him with his farm work, I used my healing technique on his soil, did you know it also works on soil Hidan-sama, oh wait! You don't know about the soil-how silly of me to forget to tell you that, well you see, some hooligans had set Yasu-san's farm and crops on fire and they wouldn't produce anything anymore, so I had an idea to bring the soil back to life, and it worked! So his family and him are now planting a lot of new seeds! That poor guy almost fainted again after he woke up and saw I was still alive but after I explained my ability he praised me and told me all about his situation seeing as I can't remember a thing about myself!" Sunnora started giggling.

Hidan had stopped listening after the 'we stay and help' part, _'there's no way I'm going to stay here and do work'._

"Dipshit let's go I have a lot of questions to ask you"

Sunnora looked disappointed that she couldn't stay and help, but Yasu had insisted that she had already done enough for him and his family. Plus she couldn't go against Hidan-sama's orders; he had helped her after all. She smiled and waved goodbye at the happy family and walked off with Hidan.

The sun was setting and she wasn't feeling too well.

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**I'm pretty sure some of you know where this is headed xD anyways thanks again for reading guys, review please ^-^ chapter 10: "the mission" will be uploaded soon. **


	10. The Checkup

**This is very short, it's a filler chapter because I felt if I didn't clarify then the next chapters wouldn't make sense because this will tie into the story. **

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. **

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**Chapter 10: "The Checkup" **

The quiet pair of footsteps was all that could be heard on the 7th floor of the hospital building.

"Doctor, we have never seen anything like it, I mean, h-he's alive but it's like he's also dead, we don't know what to make of it", the pair made their way into the patient's room and a chill went down their spines as they saw the boy pale and sickly.

The man in the white coat placed his stethoscope against the young boy's chest and noted the definite sound of the heartbeat but this was definitely a phenomenon. In any other case this would have turned out completely different. They had received the boy and taken him into surgery not many hours ago.

"I've never seen anything like this Mitsuko-san, we had the help of Haruno-san this morning for that critical surgery, it's a good thing she was around, without her help he would have definitely lost the arm but miraculously she managed to attach it back perfectly and gain full usage, but according to all the tests he is getting worse"

"What could it be doctor?", she looked at the boy with the noticeable light purple marks all over his chest, they had multiplied greatly from the last hour.

"I don't know, it scares me but this boy is too young to die like this, it's like he's being killed from the inside out, he's not rejecting any of the blood from the transfusion, so that's not it, his immune system is fine so it's not bacterial, it would have shown up on the tests, he actually looks worse than an hour ago, I really don't know what this is, if this keeps up we're going to have to call in a specialist".

"I understand doctor, also some kids came by earlier to visit the patient it was the same group that brought him here but I turned them away, I know they must have skipped class to come here, they were very insistent, should I have let them through?"

"No, you did the right thing Mitsuko-san, we can't let anyone see him like this, it's quite the horrifying sight, it's best we get this mystery solved as soon as possible before people start to worry"

The petite woman nodded and walked out of the room alongside the doctor. Neither was sure how much longer this boy had but if anyone could figure out what it was it would be the Hokage.

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**I am working on the next chapter 'The Mission'! (: **


	11. The Mission

**Although I try to make the storyline coincide with the series there will be instances where it won't work out exactly that way.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

**Chapter 11: "The Mission"**

Tsunade intertwined her fingers and waited for her assistant to come through that door any second now.

'_What is taking her so long?'_ she looked to her right and saw the mass piles of untouched paperwork, _'yeah I could do those until she shows up but-'_

Her patience was wearing thin and just when she was about to start on the paperwork the loud knock on the door was heard.

'_Oh thank kami' _she thought, removing her hand from the page like it was on fire.

"Come in" she ordered, and the door opened making way to show a very stressed looking Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama, something terrible has happened!"

Tsunade motioned for her to continue with the details as Shizune took the opportunity to catch her breath.

"Well it seems that a bar just outside the border of the Land of Fire was attacked, the bar was famous for attracting the biggest criminals that many of our own jōnin couldn't take down, from the reports of the ANBU squad it seems there were no survivors, the person that did this left the murder weapon behind, and from the details in the report it seems the person that did this was a psychopath, there we signs of torture and slow deaths"

Tsunade gave the dark haired woman a quizzical look, '_isn't this good news? I know that bar very well, it housed the biggest of criminals, whoever ordered this mission did us all a favor'_

Shizune sighed and locked eyes with the frowning woman in front of her.

"I know what you may be thinking Tsunade-sama, but this isn't good news, we have to think of the lesser of two evils, and the person that did this wasn't ordered to do this as a mission, I have already contacted the other assistants of the Kages and are just as concerned about this as we are".

"How many died at the scene?"

"102 men, Tsunade-sama"

'_One person killed 102 men? Whoever we're dealing with here must be an S class to pull off something like that, Shizune is correct on one thing, the individual that did this is definitely the greater of two evils'_

"Are you sure it was just one person Shizune?"

"Well I'm not too sure, but the report from the Investigation facility says it's very likely. All of the injuries were caused by the katana that the ANBU were able to take from the scene, it is a very unusual katana, and I've never seen anything like it".

'_That's very strange news, it's very difficult to make a katana all that different from the usual design and still retain the same function'_

Shizune handed Tsunade the report and awaited her orders.

"Shizune, give me the list of all the available chūnin and jōnin"

"H-hai Tsunade-sama", the dark haired woman bowed and scrambled around with one of the many folders she was holding to find the piece of paper with the list.

Giving it to the Hokage, Tsunade scanned the page debating on the candidates. The choice she made had to be considered greatly, sending her chūnin and jōnin on these missions always struck her a little and made her slightly worry for their return for even simple looking missions on paper could hide the clouded picture that could lead to a greater threat so even B or C rank missions had the uneasy effect on her. Glancing at the paper once more she made up her mind.

"I want team 10 to take on the bar murder mission with Yamato as team leader" Shizune nodded and wrote down the orders. Team 10 and most importantly the whole village had lost Sarutobi Asuma not many weeks ago, and the effect had taken the greatest toll on the team, she couldn't do much for them but grieve like the rest and move on, remembering Asuma for the great shinobi he was. Speaking with Shikaku many times before he had to leave the village she took it from his way of speech and facial expressions that he was hurt, most likely from the way his son had taken to the passing of their sensei. _'This mission will require great observation and dedication to track down the culprit, a great distraction for the whole team, will keep their minds occupied and I know I can't count on better shinobi for this mission-but at the same time it could be what decides what I'm about to do'._ Tsunade wrote down a quick note and handed it to her assistant.

"Shizune I need you to deliver this to Yamato personally, he should be with Naruto and Kakashi out in the northern forest, so when you retrieve them hand him that note"

"Hai Tsunade-sama, also have you chosen who to put on the other mission yet, you've had a couple of hours to think about it", the deep scowl returned to the blonde woman's face as she reminisced about the event that occurred here not many hours ago, the words of the young academy girl still echoed in her head.

"Yes Shizune, I was waiting for you to tell you this, I have made up my mind, I need you to get Team 7 and Team Gai to take this mission"

Shizune looked at her Hokage with bewilderment.

"T-Tsunade-sama, why two teams? Isn't it better to just send one? A team of four is ideal, adding any more than that is jeopardizing the mission and placing more of our own in danger, plus it would be easy to-"

"I know that Shizune, but the words of that academy student still haunt me slightly" the blonde Hokage said while frowning from the uneasiness.

Tsunade recalled the words clearly.

_"You're not even listening to me! It wasn't anyone in Konoha, s-she wasn't human! She was a demon"_

"I know it's ridiculous", Tsunade chuckled lightly but sounded like awkward laughter to Shizune, "she has to be human right?"

'_I've never seen Tsunade-sama like this, it's like she's seeking answers in someone else to reassure her but she really is concerned' _Shizune snapped out of her thoughts as she quickly noticed that Tsunade was still waiting her response.

Shizune nodded

'_Tsunade-sama is having a hard time comprehending this whole situation now; she isn't sure what to believe'_

Shizune noted that Tsunade was done and rushed out the room to seek the teams and have them make their way to the Hokage's office for detailed instructions.

Tsunade was really wrapped into her own thoughts that she didn't notice Shizune leave.

'_Either way I don't want to just rush my decision and send these kids out there like it's nothing, that girl was after blood and didn't care who she got it from, our students did nothing to aggravate her, she almost killed one of our own and I can't have that'_

Tsunade wasn't sure about the details but she was sure that whatever was out there wouldn't be easy to take down. The injuries the boy had were severe from the report she had received from Sakura. Looking over the report once more she read it in detail. She really was proud of her apprentice, she had managed to attach the arm so it could return to its full use again, something that she would consider difficult herself it would take enormous amounts of chakra at pin point precision to connect nerve endings.

As if on cue the pink haired kunoichi entered the office, all Tsunade could focus on was her lack of knocking but her slight annoyance quickly faded when she noted the troubled look on the young girl's face.

"Shishou sorry for the intrusion but I got news from Katsuro Rei's doctor" Sakura approached her mentor and handed her a report, "It seems that his arm is fine, the blood transfusion worked, but he's getting worse, I've never seen anything like this ever, so I was hoping go over the report and give light to whatever it could be"

Tsunade looked at the report and wanted to help but couldn't. She read the line in the report that confused her, '_light purple markings all over the chest area, multiply with given time' _she didn't know what that was.

"Sakura, I am of no help, I've never heard or seen of this sort of thing, I ask that you give this report to the Cryptanalysis Squad, they're not just for cryptics and messages, they also deal with extensive research and thorough findings that could help lead some clarity to this situation".

Sakura nodded in approval and waited for Tsunade to dismiss her. "Don't leave quite yet Sakura, I need you to stay here, I have a mission for your team and should be arriving soon, you can deliver that letter after you have received your mission details".

The pink haired girl wasn't expecting this and stood there dumb folded but quickly dismissed it and awaited her team mates.

After fifteen minutes of contemplating whether or not to start her paperwork the blond haired woman heard the loud obnoxious voice of the just as obnoxious Jinchuriki boy outside her office and awaited their knock.

"Ahhh~ but Kakashi-sensei why did we have to come here? You didn't have to drag me you know I would have eventually agreed to come here on my own"

Kakashi sighed and put down the blonde boy that had in insisted on kicking him in the stomach for the last five minutes after he had thrown him over his shoulder and headed for the Hokage's office after he had insisted on not going to see 'obaasan' until after he had mastered the Rasenshuriken to a greater degree.

Naruto sulked as Kakashi knocked on the door with the familiar faces of Yamato and Sai behind him.

The booming voice of the Hokage informed them that they were allowed to enter. Naruto instantly cheered up from his depressed state as he saw the pink haired girl from the corner of his eye.

"SAKURA-CHAN~!" Naruto skipped towards her and opened his arms wide to hug the said girl, he had just seen her the day before but he reasoned it had been way too long in his head.

Sakura waited for the last second then extended her arm to collide with the blonde boy's face which made it impossible to dodge. Everyone in the room smirked as they had expected this to happen.

"AHH~ Sakura-chan! That was mean; I really thought you would allow me to hug you this time!" Naruto pouted and rubbed his nose.

Kakashi had warned him many times to stop doing that but he had ignored him so now he didn't feel bad for him when he got punched in the face or worse.

Sai watched the exchange in amusement and took mental notes while Tsunade was trying her best to not scream at the fools in her office. Yamato just smiled and waited for instructions.

Everyone turned when they saw the door open and Shizune walked in with Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji in tow.

"Tsunade-sama, I have informed everyone that was on the list to head this way immediately" Shizune bowed politely and stood next to the desk facing the eight others in the office.

"Ehh~ why are there so many people here? What's going on Tsunade-obaasan?"

Everyone watched the deep scowl form on the Hokage's forehead and took a mini step back while a hard knuckle came in contact with the back of the jinchuriki's head.

"Show some respect Naruto!" Sakura warned him while a large bump appeared on Naruto's head.

It was deadpan silent from then on until the door opened harshly making way to the familiar teacher student duo wearing matching green jumpsuits. They both looked out of breath and panting heavily.

"C-Close one Lee! But I am number one" Gai said standing up straight and pulling his chest out. The boy behind him smiled up at his sensei and beamed of happiness for if you could squint slightly there would definitely be sparkles surrounding those two.

"Sugoi Gai-sensei, you are clearly the fastest person ever!" Lee stood next to the taller man and praised him highly.

"Don't feel down Lee, I am your sensei and one day you'll be just as fast or faster than I am, for you see, not even Kakashi could keep up with my speed" Gai eyed Kakashi who to everyone else looked like he hadn't even heard them come in.

"H-hai Gai-sensei!"

The Hokage counted all the people in the room and frowned, then looked up to her green clad jōnin.

"Gai I said to bring your whole team! Where are Tenten and Neji?" the blonde woman demanded already getting quite irritated with all the blabbering coming from her supposedly professional shinobi.

Gai looked around frantically for a couple seconds trying to find the weapon specialist kunoichi and the byakugan owner. He sheepishly smiled and turned once more to the Hokage.

"Well you see Tsunade-san, I thought they were behind Lee and I but I guess they didn't take part in the race, we were training out in the training fields when we received Shizune-san's message, those two don't know the meaning of youth but as their sensei it is something I will teach them with great encouragement and practice!"

Lee's eyes sparkled as he heard his sensei speak while the rest of them tried to stifle a yawn.

After 10 minutes of waiting, a steady walking Tenten and Neji made their way to the office.

"Okay it looks like we can finally commence" Tsunade gave Shizune a nod as she wordlessly approved to hand out the mission details on scrolls to the people in the crowded office.

"Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Yamato, you will be receiving this A ranked mission, I don't know if you're aware of this or not but it seems that a popular bar outside the border of the land of fire was attacked hours ago, this bar was famous for attracting major criminals and they were all killed, there is a very strong suspicion that this was done by one person and I don't care what your opinion or moral standings of this issue lie, I need you four to investigate this case. The murder weapon was left behind at the bar after everyone was found dead, after you are dismissed here you can go to the ANBU headquarters to take a close look at the weapon, if you have no questions then you are dismissed"

Yamato was about to lead the group out of the room when Shikamaru spoke.

"Why did you choose us for this mission? Wouldn't it have been better to send Hinata, Shino and Kiba's team? Everyone in this room knows they are specialists in tracking and investigative work"

Tsunade was hoping he wouldn't ask this but knowing the boy for this long she had already suspected it.

The Hokage sighed and intertwined her fingers looking into the spiky haired boy's eyes. His look was cold and would have made anyone uneasy but coming from her gambling experience she wasn't about to back down, she just pulled a poker face of her own.

"Shikamaru, I have decided to form this team because I, like the entire village, am tired of this mourning and honestly quite pitiful attitude you and your team have adopted since the death of Asuma"

Shikamaru narrowed his frigid stare at the woman in front of him but she knew she had to continue, he had to hear this. She knew she was getting many bewildered and shocked looks from the people in the room but she also knew that these children had been pitied and spoiled from people all over the village that saw the three as victims, and at first Tsunade didn't mind but it had gone on for far too long to the point of embarrassment, she still considered them shinobi, and emotions weren't supposed to be a part of this when they signed up. She let them grieve then move on but it appeared that the 'move on' part was out of the question for these three individuals and mainly the boy in front of her.

"I know you're hurting and I really understand that, believe me I do I've lost loved ones too but when you decide to be in this particular field or have those loved ones in this kind of life then you're not allowed that luxury of grief for long, you move on and do the missions I assign, I selected the three of you for this one because I need you to go back to being a shinobi, to go back to what you were before the death of Asuma and-"

She paused once more to contemplate this idea in her head once more, it was risky and it did hurt a little but she saw it quite necessary, she looked at Yamato for a second and saw him nod to reassure she was doing the right thing. Yamato knew what was going through the Hokage's head at this very second, he knew she was deciding for or against it for this was the only chance she had to back down on her word if she thought of not going through with it, the note he had received earlier was still neatly folded in his pocket.

"There is also a very important detail that is attached to this mission, for I need the very best of the shinobi of this village and I expect the very best from you all, that is why I have decided that if this mission is not done according to my expectations from the report Yamato will write detailing this mission then the three of you will be deemed a burden and terminated from your spots indefinitely"

The whole room stood there wide eyed at the news except for Shikamaru and Yamato. Shikamaru looked like he had when he walked into the room and after a few tension filled seconds spoke up.

"You're saying if you don't like how we carry on this mission you will strip us of our rank and position"

Tsunade nodded and waited to hear backtalk and pleads from the people around her but surprisingly enough no one spoke up. Shikamaru nodded and moved his line of sight to the door keeping the Hokage in his peripheral vision.

"Very well, if that is all we will head to the ANBU headquarters"

Tsunade nodded and watched the team head out the office with Shikamaru in front and Yamato closing the door behind them.

'_I hope I don't have to suspend you either Shikamaru but this is the push you all need to move on, I know I'm doing the right thing'_

There was awkward silence in the room as the two remaining teams stood still not wanting to move an inch.

Shizune looked around the room then noted that Tsunade was in her thoughts again so she went next to her and placed her hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"Tsunade-sama, the remaining teams are awaiting orders"

Tsunade woke from her rambling mind and loud conscious and after a brief pause of gathering her thoughts spoke up.

"Okay Team Kakashi, Team Gai you two will work together on this next mission I will assi-"

Tsunade frowned as she was interrupted by the loud and annoying voice of the 'fiercest beast of battle'

"WOOHOO! Did you hear that Kakashi? Looks like our teams will be on the same mission, you know what that means! Whoever's team completes this mission first will give a one point lead on our current stalemate problem! TEAM GAI FIGHT!"

"YEEE~ FIGHT!", Lee and Gai chanted for a couple of seconds into the otherwise quiet room.

Naruto peeked his head out to look at Kakashi and read his face, to everyone else he looked the same as always but Naruto always seemed to think he knew the expressionless man a little more than anyone else.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, with me on your team there's no way we'll lose! FIGHT!"

Soon Naruto had joined Gai and Lee in the chanting which greatly annoyed all the women in the room and Neji.

Shizune turned to Tsunade and with a look told her she was giving her a _'why did you put these two teams together again?'_

"STOP! No I did not put you two together for a competition" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You two will be working together to track down a suspicious individual that was encountered just outside the village by a group of academy students late last night. The details of this person are written and specified in the report that was handed to you; you will track down and capture the said person, be very cautious for a boy that faced this criminal had his arm torn off and suffered from deep mental and physical trauma. Don't underestimate this person"

After she was done speaking the booming laugh of Maito Gai filled the otherwise quiet room.

"Kakashi, looks like you got lucky on this one, not only did you save yourself from my one point advantage but my team has gotten significantly better from the last time we worked together! Team Gai this is our chance to prove just how better we have gotten, with the power of youth we will complete this mission in no time!" Gai dashed out of the room and everyone saw the ghost print of Gai as if he had teleported, just being around the energy filled man always tired Tsunade just watching him.

"That's right Gai-sensei, the power of youth will always prevail" Lee also dashed off after Gai.

Tsunade took a deep breath to control her irritation, _'I should restrict those two to tasks that don't require too much brain work…but luckily'_

She looked ahead and noticed Neji and Tenten, the brown haired girl was going over the scroll and Neji with a deep scowl on his face was looking out the window.

She wasn't expecting the cool headed brunette male to speak

"3…2…1"

And after '1' the two green clad males came barging in the office once again. She was really surprised how much the Hyuuga knew the two.

"Gai! What is the meaning of this, barging in like that is unnecessary!"

After a pause to catch his breath he sheepishly smirked, "Well you see Tsunade-"

Neji walked over to the two and handed them their scrolls.

"Hahaha Neji always so dependable" the man laughed taking the scroll while Lee gave him a nice guy pose.

"First we will head to the northern outskirts of the forest, the report does outline a very specific location to where the incident occurred so we will head that way, Kakashi-sensei, your team can meet up with us later" with a polite nod to the three remaining adults in the room he exited with Tenten and Lee behind him.

"You don't have to hurry yourself Kakashi; by the time you get there we will already have captured the criminal!" Gai smiled triumphantly and exited the office.

'_I should have made Hyuuga Neji the team leader but looks like he already took the position so I can rest assured something will get done'_

The remaining four hadn't moved since they got here. Sakura awaited her shisho's further orders, Kakashi looked as he always did, Sai was looking over the scroll, and Naruto was drifting off into his own thoughts while picking at something in his ear.

"If you don't have any questions you are dismissed"

Naruto shook from his thoughts and fixed his posture with his chest pulled out, "Don't worry Tsunade-obaasan we will complete this mission and capture that low life, believe it, Usumaki Naruto never fails"

The trio walked out the room with Naruto running ahead of them.

'_Why can't I ever give those two teams a mission without getting a migraine?'_

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**Back to Hidan and Sunnora in the next chapter!**

**Reviews are encouraged (: **


	12. The Sun Sets

**These next couple of chapters will clear things up that you might have been confused about in chapter three (: **

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Naruto**

**Rated M for Language (Yes Hidan is back) **

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**Chapter 12: "The Sun Sets**"

It was getting dark with small amounts of sunlight pouring in from the canopy like trees into the available space to give the path ahead of them little clearing. Hidan noticed the chipper girl that was trailing behind him was acting quite strange.

"Oi dipshit what's wrong?"

He awaited the playful giggle or the whole hearted polite reply from the girl but neither came, the only sound was the light shuffling of their feet.

Looking behind him he took in the stoic expression on the girl's fair face. Her eyes were focused ahead but it seemed that only her subconscious was allowing her feet to move. If this was the first time he had encountered the girl he would have assumed that this girl was coldhearted and emotionless. Her pink lips were in a straight line and overall face would have made for the perfect poker face. Her cheeks were flushed and bright blue eyes that he pictured as alert and crinkled slightly when she smiled were now drooped halfway, he wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep right then and there.

"I'm talking to you!" he said as he moved his body to turn fully towards the girl and stood like a stone-wall in front of her but it didn't seem to faze her.

The slight thud was heard on the otherwise quiet area as Sunnora's body made contact with the zealot's chest. Hidan's attempt to wake her from her thoughts seemed to work because the blue eyes widened surprisingly and her consciousness was awoken from whatever she was previously thinking. It took the young girl a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on around her. She was sure she hadn't noticed anything in her path or she would have stopped but now thinking back on it she had been startled just how deep in the forest they had gotten, the last thing she could clearly recall was when they walked to the entrance of the wooden area as she had protested but Hidan had ordered this path for it was a shortcut. She wouldn't have minded the shortcut very much but she hated how the tall trees hid the already dwindling sunlight, the path she wanted to take was out in the open so more sunlight was visible. After getting over the shock of the whole situation she focused on the object she had bumped into, Sunnora blinked a few times to adjust her vision. Taking in the pale defined chest, the tattered black and red cloth, and the immaculate silver pendent she briskly stepped back a couple steps but a tad too quickly that she lost her balance and without thinking she brought her arm out to cling to the nearest thing, which for her was the fabric of the man in front of her. Finally looking up she noted the silver hair slicked back with a few bangs out of place, the light purple eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed just how tight the clutch around his robe was. A scowl adorned the male's face that was more than enough to send the goddess back about two steps setting about three feet between them.

"I'm so sorry Hidan-sama! I didn't mean to bump into you"

She bowed her head slightly to emphasize her point, her ebony hair cascaded around her shoulders and face that hid her expression. Hidan stared at her, she sounded the same as she always did but it was the lack of her smile that made him think twice about her wellbeing.

"Look at me" Hidan said as he kept his gaze on the raven haired girl. She obeyed and raised her head looking into the strong gaze.

"Is something wrong Hidan-sama?"

Hidan knew he was being preposterous, sure he knew the girl was valuable, more valuable now than ever now that Kakuzu wasn't with him anymore because with his immortality and her weird healing jutsu he was practically invincible but that didn't mean that he had to care this much about her; she was fine, maybe just tired?

Outwardly nodding his head at his thoughts he turned away from the girl and started walking. The girl's soft voice broke his concentration.

"What's wrong Hidan-sama? I want to help you in any way I can"

Hidan sneered and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued walking.

"Does it look like something is wrong? Just keep walking, it's getting dark and I won't look for you if you get lost"

"Oh, it's just that when I asked you if something was wrong you nodded your head so I thought-"

A frown returning to the immortal's face he raised his voice at the girl behind him. "I wasn't nodding at you, you stupid girl, I was nodding at myself".

He inwardly scowled as he realized just how stupid she made him sound. Silence overtook them as they continued to walk in peace for about ten minutes. Hidan never particularly liked it being this calm and usually talked even when he was with Kakuzu, the most antisocial bastard Hidan ever knew, but he always managed to converse with him even if most of the conversation was one sided. It was weird talking to the girl behind him though, she was the total opposite of Kakuzu, and he felt like he didn't know her at all. _'I don't even know her fucking name!'_

Frustrated with his thoughts that weren't getting him anywhere he turned to look at the blue eyed girl once more. _'She sure is a puzzle, I still don't understand why she is wearing that pendant, or where she's from, she irritates me so much!'_

What irritated him to another level was her facial expression. She was back at square one with that expressionless visage.

Getting an idea together to test his initial hypothesis he abruptly stopped and stepped aside from the path and sure enough the girl walked right past him without breaking contact with her forward viewpoint. Hidan scowled as the girl continued walking straight ahead; never once noticing that he had stopped and was now about six feet behind her.

"Oi dipshit! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Sunnora suddenly stopped in mid step and abruptly turned around.

She didn't speak; she was still trying to figure out how she hadn't noticed how Hidan had gotten behind her when she was supposed to be the one following him.

"How did you get behind me Hidan-sama?"_'Is she fucking serious? She must really be out of it…' _

"You walked right past me idiot"

Taken aback by his answer she looked dumb folded. _'I would have noticed if he had stopped right?'_

"Okay something is wrong, what is it?" Hidan crossed his arms over his chest and awaited her response which came after fifteen seconds of pondering on her part.

"I don't know what you mean Hidan-sama, I'm feeling fine" _'please don't worry about me'_

"Come here" he said motioning with his eyes.

Noticing the twitch in her knee as she stepped forward he rushed to her side without thinking, getting there just in time to catch the collapsing girl in his arms before she hit the hard floor.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled in a whisper, her eyes were closed and lips parted as if she was struggling to breath. Her body was shaking lightly and sweat covered her forehead that trailed its way down her neck. Placing one of his hands over her forehead he mentally cursed his luck, _'she's really sick, she's burning up'_

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick?" picking her up in his arms he walked to a clearing.

"I-I didn't want to worry you or trouble you in any way because of me", she attempted to open her eyes but managed to only open them halfway.

Hidan pondered, _'even if she had told me she was feeling sick would it have made a difference?' _

They were in the middle of the forest with a four hour walk ahead of them if they moved fast enough south and a three hour walk if they turned back north. Placing her down gently with her back aligned to a tree trunk he ripped half his sleeve off the cloak and looked down at the half unconscious girl.

Crouching next to her he wiped off some of the sweat that had gathered around her temples and let his hand trail to her face once more letting it linger there for a few more seconds. She really was getting worse. "Hey-I'll be right back, I know this area quite well, there's a stream west of here, if I use my full speed I can get there and back in about twenty five minutes" he was surprised how soft his voice sounded, if he didn't know better he would have thought it was someone else talking.

It frightened him to a degree just how much he cared. He didn't quite know why he was so worried; she was just here for his convenience, nothing more. Nothing more than some material thing he slightly relied on but could always be replaced if something went wrong. She looked so weak and delicate in this state that it bothered him leaving her alone but he couldn't carry her with him, it would slow his down severely. Making up his mind that he was this worried about her because it did put him at an inconvenience he withdrew his hand.

He was about to stand when her hand reached out for his arm, clinging onto it quite feebly. He looked at her and took in the sickly colorless state of her face, if he was a passerby he would have assumed she was dying. An uneasy feeling made its way to his stomach when the idea of her dead came into his mind.

"Please don't leave me-"

She looked scared and helpless, and he was having a very hard time telling her no, a task that came very easily to him; yet it pained him greatly at this moment.

Standing at his full height her arm fell to her side as if the bones in that arm had decided to disintegrate.

"I can't take you with me, just stay here, I promise I'll return as fast as I can, I need to get you that water".

One last look over his shoulder he noted the girl shake her head approvingly and slip her eyes close. He didn't know why seeing her with her eyes closed pained him but he was wasting time and the sun had set completely. Luck seemed to never be on his side as he looked for the almost nonexistent moon.

'_Finding that damn stream will be harder now that I can't fucking see a foot in front of me'. _

Dashing off from limb to limb to the west he disappeared in seconds.

Sunnora blinked one last time before falling to complete unconsciousness.

* * *

He wanted to scream, it had been about half an hour since he had left her behind in that forest, and he couldn't find the stupid stream.

'_It had to be around this area! Damn it…if only I had some light I could find this fucking place!' _He was more irritated than he ordinarily would have been because he kept thinking of possible scenarios, he had slipped up on many minor things when he had decided to leave her that he was now cursing himself.

'_I didn't give her a fucking weapon, what if she gets attacked by an animal…fuck! Not that she could even if she had one but it would at least startle the animal right?' _

Looking around he pounded his head against the tree.

'_What the fuck! I don't even know where the hell I am, not only will I not find the stream but now I'm lost and will have to return to her empty handed…if I can find my way back that is…'_ looking around him again he didn't even know which direction to take, _'Damn it, no wonder Kakuzu always insisted on leading, he made it seem so easy'._

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**Review Please! Next chapter will be up very soon**


	13. The Darkness

**I know this chapter has been delayed but instead of making excuses I'll just let you get to it (: **

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**Chapter 13: "The Darkness"**

Sunnora awoke to the familiar darkness that she loved to surround herself in.

'_Why am I still alive? I thought for sure I was good for dead'_

She remembered of what felt like just seconds ago; she had been burned alive by some strange foreign event that certainly did not exist back at home.

Taking a look at the skin on her legs and hands she noted that it was as if nothing happened.

'_This sure is strange, I'm positive that I would have at least some burn marks…anywhere' _Sunnora stood up and looked around her body for any proof that she hadn't just imagined the whole ordeal. The idea that it had just been in her imagination seemed more likely every second she spent trying to find evidence to consolidate the initial idea but the facts were what they were.

'_But I wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of a forest'_ looking around the area she noticed it was definitely not the same as she had remembered it.

'_This is definitely strange, I don't remember this area at all, the landscape here is entirely different, there were mounds of broken trees there' _she turned her body slightly_, 'and tons of dirt stacked up feet high there' _she turned her body the opposite direction,_ 'and a bunch of useless body parts belonging to that repulsive human there'. _Beyond a couple of tall trees the gleam of sparkling water caught her attention. Rushing to the opening she cupped her hands together grabbing small amounts of water and washed her face and hands that had gotten quite dirty from her time here.

Sunnora was contemplating whether to search around the area for the familiar scenery and the man that looked like he had gone through a giant cheese grater when a voice caught her attention.

"Where the hell is that voice coming from?" she spoke to herself and frowned at her own voice when it hit her ears.

Her voice didn't sound as threatening and deep as she remembered and quickly realized the reason for this. Taking the top half of the cloth around her neck she pulled it up until it covered the bottom half her face in a mask. _'I only pull down the mask when I eat but always remember to pull it back up again, I just can't seem to remember what happened' _she grimaced as she tried to recall the last few hours but gave up when she felt the start of a headache coming on.

The annoying noise that sounded like shrieking brought her attention back to her task. Walking briskly in the direction of the noise she spotted what looked to be like a couple of young teenagers. A grin appeared on her face as scenarios of these kids being slowly tortured to death and blood splattered on tree trunks flashed in her demonic mind. Her grin turned menacing and would have scared anyone if it weren't hidden behind the mask.

She watched like a predator behind a tree but quickly hid when she saw a spark of alert in the older looking human's pupil. It would be impossible for anyone else to notice but her demonic eyes let her catch the slightest sign of alert in his eye. It must have been nothing, maybe he remembered something he was thinking about but she didn't like taking chances. _'Damn he must be good, even a very skilled human could never sense me, guess I'll just have to hide a bit better'._

Lowering her hand to her pendent she pulled it from its silver chains and chanted a few words in front of the hovering object which allowed her to disappear in all five senses to any human. _'Now if I wanted to I could sit right next to them and they wouldn't even know I'm there, those stupid bastards!' _she started laughing loudly, aware that they couldn't hear her and walked out from behind the tree, standing just outside the camp area where the four humans were seated.

"Ahhh~ Kakashi-sensei, why did we stop to rest!? I'm not tired at all, and if we waste time like this Team Gai will win!" Naruto stood up and continued to whine, "Team Naruto comes second to no one!"

"NARUTO! This isn't a competition, that is what Tsunade-sama said remember and we're TEAM 7" Sakura grabbed Naruto's collar and her fist was inches from his face.

"Not you too Sakura-chan and I was just joking" Naruto whined and looked defeated as Sakura released her grip on the blonde boy.

Naruto followed the pink haired kunoichi's line of sight and caught her glaring at their newest member.

"Sai-san what are you doing?!" Sakura leaned over the startled boy and grabbed the mission file that was now covered in inky doodles.

"Kakashi-sensei didn't let me bring my journal" Sai stated matter-of-factly reaching for the file again. Sakura pulled her arm away from his reach and glared menacingly.

"So you decided to scribble on our mission report?!" she crossed her arms and wondered to herself why she had to be paired up with these idiots.

"Yes…its paper".

Naruto watched from the sidelines with a giant grin as he awaited for Sai to get punched in the face any second now.

Sunnora stood next to the blonde haired boy and tried to keep her demon side in check as it forcefully tried to cut the boy's head off this very second, but she knew timing was everything.

Just as she was about to reach for her katana she heard a non-familiar voice.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" out of the bushes in a swan like leap appeared a man in a green jumpsuit with a bowl haircut, he was tall and with his appearance alone Sunnora was already mentally adding him to her kill list.

'_Who the hell is this guy?' _

Sakura clutched the paper with ease out of Sai's reluctant grip and walked over to the green beast jounin.

"Gai-sensei, what are you doing here?"

Kakashi stood from his seat and awaited the other male to speak.

"Neji used his byakugan to track you because we thought maybe you had gotten lost" Gai smiled at the team with a wide teeth showing grin. "He pointed the direction and I'll guide you to the sight, it's quite horrendous"

Sakura smiled a polite smile and spoke for the group, "we weren't lost Gai-sensei, we were just taking a break as Kakashi-sensei recommended"

Gai furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at his rival, "Kakashi, why did you decide to take a break? The sight of the attack is just five minutes away from here"

…

All three teens turned to glare at the silver haired male. Kakashi began sweating and smiled sheepishly at the hostile kids that made up his team.

"Is that true Kakashi-sensei, why?-"Sakura frowned and walked over to the male who was about to move away but wasn't fast enough to avoid her grip on his vest.

"H-Hey!" Kakashi shrieked as Sakura stuck on of her hands in the man's vest.

Naruto, Gai, and Sai glared harder when they saw the little red book in Sakura's hand.

"heh-heh I needed to finish that chapter before we started the mission, it was getting really good-"

Naruto ran over to Kakashi and started yelling at him when Sai and Sakura started packing some of their stuff and walked over to Gai who led them to the sight.

Sunnora glared at the ridiculous spectacle in front of her eyes and decided to follow the green clad man as well.

'_He's probably leading them to a bigger group of people-' _the demon in her wriggled with anticipation of the bloodshed that was to come.

She smirked when she saw the saddened expression on this 'Kakashi' guy's face when the pink haired brat decided to give the book back to him when and only when the mission was finished. _'He's going to be too preoccupied with getting his book back to notice my presence'. _

Sunnora knew she couldn't stay in this hidden mode for long, at most maybe another twenty minutes so the fact that this human was more preoccupied with other things really had her more at ease.

They arrived at the scene and inspected the area, Neji, Tenten and Lee had already documented and inspected the area thoroughly.

Neji was the first to speak when the pack arrived.

"Don't touch anything. We have to leave this place exactly how we found it" Neji's line of sight never left Naruto as he watched him like a hawk, ready for him to mess up somehow.

Sunnora walked around the landscape that the others were surrounding with a huge grin on her face.

'_This is where I almost killed the brat who stabbed me' _Sunnora took in the tall trees, the blood soaked grass where she had cut off some boy's arm and the black blood she had shed just a foot or two away from where she was standing.

She was about to reach down to touch the blood her demonic side demanded but was cut off when she almost fell back as some annoying blonde boy ran past her.

"Neji don't tell me what to do! I'm not going to lose to your team; we're going to find that attacker first!"

"Naruto, don't be ridiculous…this isn't a game"

Naruto pouted and looked around the area, nothing really standing out to him.

Neji waited for Sakura to grab Naruto out from the middle of the scene and continued to speak.

"Yes- well we evaluated the scene and I used my byakugan to inspect the area around and it seems this is the only place the fight occurred. If you read the report it seems there were six individuals, four males, two females walking home from target practice. Two of the males started sparring with swords and it seems that out of nowhere some senile girl appeared"

Sunnora was paying close attention to the brunette as he spoke, she had never been referred to as 'some senile girl' and she really wanted to rip off that pretty head of his right off.

"According to one of the girls that was with the group the attacker cut off one of the boy's arm off with her own katana, seems that the blood there is proof that that is in fact true" Neji paused and glanced to the direction of the red blood on the grass.

Tenten crossed her arms and looked puzzled, "but what I don't get is how she appeared out of nowhere, I mean there were six of them, it's very hard to appear without anyone noticing, unless she was invisible or something ridiculous like that"

"Don't be silly Tenten-san that's impossible, maybe she was just really fast like Gai-sensei" Lee smiled and gave a thumbs up sign to his teacher who did the same back.

"Anyways-…it seems that after some arguing and taunting she decided to attack the rest of the group but the other boy with a katana stabbed her in the chest before she had a chance" Neji paused and looked at the black liquid on the grass.

Everyone didn't know what to make of it.

"So she's injured then right? If she was stabbed then we can conclude that she's either dead or in critical condition somewhere-"Sakura spoke but still eyed the black substance skeptically.

"Yes that is also what I believe, but I don't see proof here that she was stabbed-"

Naruto finally spotting the black substance spoke up, "Hey! What's that there?" he got closer and stared down.

"Don't touch it Naruto, we're not sure what that is-"Sakura held the boy's collar and pulled him back.

"Well that's all the report says, after that it seems the five of them ran off while she had collapsed in pain, must have been from her injury".

Sunnora frowned at the words, _'I wish, you brat…if that was all I would have definitely killed them' _Sunnora stood from her seated position on the grass and ran a hand over her chest where she had been stabbed.

She had heard enough of their stupid theories and decided she wanted to shut them up for good.

Placing her hand behind her back she looked at the figures in front of her and contemplated on who to kill first but frowned when her hand failed to come in contact with the demonic katana.

Un-strapping the holster from her back she inwardly cursed when she noticed it was empty.

'_WHAT THE FUCK! Where is it!?' _Sunnora had only ever lost her katana once before and had learned a special chant just for it when she was younger, guess it would work here too. She grimaced when she recalled that it took tremendous energy to use the chant mostly in this realm. Face palming she regretted using her disappearing chant in the first place. Now she had to tail these people without her invisibility just to regain the energy needed to get her katana back.

Sunnora got far away from the group and chanted her invisibility chant backwards, already feeling energy drift into her. She felt nervous, a foreign feeling to her, and unsettled her greatly. _'You'll have your weapon back soon; just follow them until you can use the tracker chant'._

* * *

"Where the fuck is she?!" Hidan looked around the empty landscape and looked for the half dead girl he had left here just an hour ago.

'_ugh- this is why I don't have partners, they keep disappearing' _he tried to calm himself down and closed his eyes for a moment '_maybe this isn't the right spot-' _Hidan fell on his back and laid down looking up at the stars.

"I give up-"

He felt that little voice in his head nagging him on about leaving her to die and got up.

'_I don't care-I shouldn't care, she's just some annoying girl' _he crossed his arms and saw a stream up ahead. Hidan was about to flip out but made up his mind that this probably wasn't the right place anyways, it would have been really stupid of him to go twenty minutes out of his way to get water when there was a stream right here after all…

Taking off his robe and the rest of his clothes he stepped inside, wincing each time his tired muscles dipped into the water. It was late and he really had to get to the closest town for a goodnight sleep, he almost genuinely smiled when the idea of a relaxing sleep filled night floated into his mind.

Most of the dirt came off his body without difficulty but the hair was the hardest to wash. The mud was caked on so deep in his skull that if anyone saw him they'd assume he was a brunette.

* * *

Light blue irises peeked from behind thick tree trunks, Sunnora felt ridiculous for being this cautious but she felt vulnerable without her weapon and on top of that the silver haired male with the apparent reading obsession seemed to unnerve her greatly.

She could feel her energy slowly returning and couldn't wait to use her tracking chant to get her katana back. She wanted to kill all of them already, mostly the annoying loud blonde boy and the prissy brunette. Sunnora eyed them from afar and saw as the weird silver haired male with a similar mask covering his face as her own did some weird hand signs and from a poof of smoke appeared a couple of dogs in blue vests.

"Pakkun, it's been awhile" Naruto stepped forward and greeted the small brown dog.

"Naruto, it's nice to see you're doing well" Pakkun looked from Naruto to Kakashi who then began to tell him the situation.

Sunnora didn't like all these dogs present, she always disliked those creatures, and she knew their scent tracking skills always hindered her in some way.

"Pakkun, we're not entirely sure what that black substance is on the grass, but I think it has to do something with the attacker we're looking for, can you check and see if you can get anything?"

Sunnora inwardly panicked, she knew that if that dog got a scent of her blood then he would definitely catch on to her location. This situation was getting out of hand and that rarely happened.

'_This isn't good I have to do something.._she immediately turned around and started sprinting in the opposite direction, she was furious at the way she was acting, weighing her options she knew that even without her katana and half her energy she could still go back there and kill them all off but this feeling was strange, this feeling of being pursued when all her life she had been the one pursuing. Shaking her head from her thoughts she used some of her demon energy and ran as fast as she could.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Sunnora screamed as she was knocked off the limb she was using to move forward and landed on her back roughly.

Her back throbbed with pain and she came in contact with the ground. Wincing for a second she looked up and noticed she wasn't the only living person there, a boy about the same age as the kids she was running from stood in front of her.

"I am so sorry, please let me help you up", he extended his arm and waited for the girl to get up.

Sunnora was about to kill the boy who thought that a simple apology would suffice when not even his death would suffice but an idea made its way into her head that she just couldn't turn down.

Removing the mask that covered half her face she looked up with a smile at the boy and extended her arm, clutching onto the boy's as he pulled her up. She winced as she stood and put all her weight on one leg. "It's quite alright; it was my fault as well for not noticing where I was looking".

"No, no, it was entirely my fault, seems my mind is too preoccupied with tribulations that I didn't notice what was right in front of me, I really am sorry, how's your leg?"

'_Of course it's all your fault you moron…I didn't just decide to knock myself out of a tree'_

"Well no worries, I'll be just fine and my leg hurts a little but I'm sure I can get home if I grab on to the tree trunks for support", Sunnora hated every word she spoke but knew this act would pay off very soon.

"May I ask, where are you going? A young girl like yourself shouldn't be out wandering around these areas, it's unsafe, there are bad people everywhere"

Sunnora almost lost it when a loud laugh threatened to escape. _'If only this idiot knew he is the one in danger'_

"Well I was heading north, my uncle lives there", Sunnora knew she had to be going in the same direction as the boy for this plan to work…_'just a little more'_

"If you're okay with it may I escort you to your uncle's place? I really can't have you walk home in the state you're in, and if anything happened, it would be very difficult to escape with one leg, please it would relieve my consciousness for doing this to you".

Sunnora inwardly grinned, everything was going as planned.

"Oh thank you very much; I would appreciate it greatly if you did that for me"

She smiled and let the boy grab onto her shoulder to hold her up as they walked.

"How rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself yet, I'm Shikamaru"

"Sunnora"

…

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**Review! (:**


	14. The Plan

**YAY, quick update, I'm on a role (: hope you like!**

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**Chapter 14: "The Plan"**

'_I swear, if this brat grips onto my shoulder any tighter I'm going to do away with my plan and kill him right here and now'_

"Is everything alright?" the boy gripped tighter onto the shoulder he was supporting and slowed his pace.

"Oh yes, why do you ask?" Sunnora could barely hold back the scowl that was threatening to show itself when she felt the boy hold her more firmly.

Shikamaru looked into her eyes and hesitated before speaking, "well your expression, thought you were in pain, you were frowning for the last couple of minutes".

'_Of course I'm frowning idiot…but I won't be for long when I see your head feet away from your body'_

Just the thought of the boy dead made her grin from ear to ear.

"Well your smile is kind of creepy but it works", Shikamaru turned his head to look ahead and quickened his pace.

"So where exactly does your uncle live?"

Sunnora got that nervous feeling again and pointed out randomly. "Its north from here, we're not far if that's what you're concerned about", Sunnora scoffed but tried to hide it with a cough.

Shikamaru chuckled quietly which only fueled Sunnora's chagrin.

Sunnora really didn't have much time to lose and knew she had to act quickly, those dogs were still on her track and time was ticking.

* * *

"Your timing is incredible young man, I just got back from my brother's a couple of minutes ago, I'll be going to sleep soon so you are lucky as well, we only have two rooms available tonight"

"Yeah yeah, I don't care about your personal shit old man, just give me my key"

"Sure thing young man, will it be for one?" the old man said, trying to ignore the rude remarks coming from the silver haired male as he dug around a cup trying to find the small bronze key.

"Isn't that obvious old geezer? Do you see anyone else here?" Hidan yanked the small key from the older man's hand and started heading upstairs.

The hotel owner rushed from behind his desk and caught up to the silver haired male, "w-wait young man, you haven't paid".

The old man gripped onto the end of Hidan's robe and a second later he was being dangled a foot above the floor by his neck.

"I don't think you understand old man, my payment is allowing you to live your pathetic life just one more day, I already know who I plan to sacrifice to Jashin-sama, and your old man blood isn't even good enough for that".

The owner chocked and tried to claw on Hidan's tight grip, which he reluctantly let go.

The silver haired male walked past the struggling man on the floor and walked upstairs to his room.

Opening the old wooden door he took off his robe and rushed to the bed landing on the bed with a thud, he looked at the ceiling, ignoring the dust on the bed as it carried his weight.

Bringing his arms up he looked at his skin and noted the injury free state he was in, he recalled on the girl that saved him and regretted leaving her alone to die just a little, _'I didn't even know her name, she really was clueless'._

The thought brought a smile to his face just before he fell asleep.

* * *

"So tell me about yourself", they had been walking for more than an hour now and it was now completely dark, the only light was the occasional peek of moonlight between the canopies of trees.

Sunnora cursed in her mind at how chatty this brat was; he had been prying into her life for the last hour.

"Well, there's not much to tell, I live alone, I like being alone, it's comforting, and I like my privacy as well, I don't like people that meddle into my business", Sunnora hoped that hint was obvious enough for the boy to shut up.

It obviously wasn't enough for the boy continued to ask questions, "So do you visit your uncle often?"

"Not as often as I'd like, I often get caught up with other things that I rarely have the time, so were you heading in this direction as well? I didn't want to become a burden".

"Yes, I was heading in this direction, I was going to meet with a couple of friends but I'm sure they won't mind when I tell them what happened".

'_Oh you won't get the chance you brat, you'll be dead in a few minutes'_

"Thank you Shikamaru-san, I really appreciate it, you don't know how much of a help you really are".

"Ow!" Sunnora rubbed her head as something hit her, she looked to the ground and noted something round.

Shikamaru released the grip he had on her and bent down grabbing the object, "we must be under an apple tree".

Sunnora looked up and clearly made out the traces of red.

Shikamaru stood back up with a concerned look on his face, "are you okay? Does it hurt?" Sunnora internally rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore, thank you though".

Shikamaru nodded and eyed the fruit in his hand, "you must be hungry, how about you sit down and I go collect a few apples, they're ripe enough to eat, here" he tossed her the apple which she caught in one hand, "I'll be right back".

'_You're right, I am hungry, but not for food' _the demon in her was getting impatient and she knew it, her red eyes were welcoming the bloodshed and she really couldn't wait any longer.

Getting up from the grass she picked up a rock and yanked some bark off a tree with ease, making sure the point was sharp enough she snuck around the tree and saw the boy on a nearby limb reaching for some apples, _'stupid brat, you're about to die yet you're too preoccupied trying to feed your killer'._

* * *

"How close are we?" the silver haired shinobi dashed upfront from limb to limb as the rest of his team trailed behind him.

"Not too far maybe a couple more minutes and we'll reach her, I'm still confused as to how she was able to move away so fast, one minute it was like she was standing right next to us, I could smell her that close, yet seconds later her scent was barely traceable, like she had teleported". Pakkun was leading the group of Kakashi and Gai as they tried to follow the scent of the black blood.

'_So she was among us at one point, I knew I felt something odd earlier'_ Kakashi clenched his fist as he recalled the unworldly presence.

"Not to worry any of you but I sense another scent next to the black blooded girl, they're close, I'm not sure if it's her accomplice or another victim but it smells familiar, can't really recall who it is though".

"Well whatever the case we need to hurry, come on everyone", Kakashi led the group behind Pakkun.

* * *

Sunnora grabbed onto the side of the tree and with ease she climbed foot by foot upwards towards the boy who was still clueless onto what was about to occur, putting the weapon between her teeth she started climbing, the boy was only a few feet away, she was already picturing how this was all going to occur, she was going to pounce on the limb and just as he turned to look what it was that was behind him she would slash his throat, killing him instantly, as much as she hated the idea of a quick death, she didn't have the time to play games, she needed to kill him and get his blood on her, that way hiding her scent from the tracking dogs and going on her way to find a way back home.

'_Oh and I can't forget, I need to kill those humans that made me go to all this trouble in the first place, after I get my katana back that is, a goddess shouldn't have to use something as barbaric as a piece of sharpened wood, but whatever gets the job done'_

She looked up at the boy as she reached the bottom of the limb he was perching on and noted he was too preoccupied with grabbing apples that he had no idea what was about to happen.

Sunnora grinned as she leaped forward onto the tree limb and took out the weapon from between her teeth, she laughed as the boy shook slightly from the wobble of the added weight and turned around with surprise in his eyes, she gave him no time to speak as her arm came forward with such speed and agility that even the most trained of humans could never block it. The anticipation was killing her but she squirmed with delight as she felt the edge come in contact with the skin on his neck.

* * *

**Don't hate me! It is what it is, and remember, the more you review the faster the update will be! thanks for reading everyone (:**


	15. The Counter-Plan

**I am so happy that a lot of you reviewed my last chapter, and to answer some questions:**

mysti13: seems you really are worried about Shika huh xD well you'll see what happens in this chapter.

Gaarasgirl23: Yeah i know you told me he was OOC and I just laughed when you said this because you really aren't giving Shika enough credit woman xD

**Thanks everyone who has stuck with this story, it means a lot, now on with what happens with Shikamaru! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto **

Rated M for Language

* * *

**Chapter 15: "The Counter-plan" **

Sunnora grinned as she leaped forward onto the tree limb and took out the weapon from between her teeth, she laughed as the boy shook slightly from the wobble of the added weight and turned around with surprise in his eyes, she gave him no time to speak as her arm came forward with such speed and agility that even the most trained of humans could never block it. The anticipation was killing her but she squirmed with delight as she felt the edge come in contact with the skin on his neck.

Everything was silent for a few seconds until the lifeless body fell from the tree with a thud as it hit the ground a few feet below them, apples fell from the boy's arms and Sunnora quickly grabbed one in midair and sunk her teeth into it with satisfaction and a genuine smile plastered her face as she ate.

'_Well that was fun' _

Jumping down gracefully from the tree Sunnora threw the core away and rushed to the body in seek of the blood she would hide her scent under, she knew if she drank enough of it, she could hide her scent completely making it utterly untraceable.

Just as she was about to dip her hand into the deep slash on the boy's neck she was surrounded in smoke that would make it impossible to see if it wasn't for her demonic eyes, seeing a slight movement on the corner of her eye she lunged forward in the darkness she was surrounded in, and abruptly froze about arms length away from a pair of slightly shocked eyes which quickly narrowed. Light blue irises met brown; she recognized those eyes and tried to break the boy's neck but quickly noticed she wasn't in control anymore, some foreign object was freezing her body, limiting her completely in movement.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu: Success" the boy spoke in a whisper with a slight smirk on his face, Sunnora hated that smirk, it was the first time she had seen it on the boy. "You're quite fast aren't you Sunnora?"

Sunnora was furious, she was sure she had killed the boy; he couldn't have possibly survived that slash on the neck. With a frown on her lips she spoke.

"How are you not dead you brat? Your body-", Sunnora saw from her peripheral vision that the body had turned into a tree log.

"You tricked me?" Sunnora growled those words out through gritted teeth; she hated having to admit that the boy had gotten the upper hand. Being embarrassed like this wasn't something Sunnora came upon often.

"I do have to tell you one thing though, it wasn't an easy thing to watch your own neck being pierced like that, you really are savage" Shikamaru outstretched his right arm out and opened his hand with his palm facing downward which resulted in Sunnora copying his exact movement, the sharpened tree bark she had been holding onto fell onto the ground with little sound.

Sunnora smirked at the boy and realized his true intentions, "I see you dropped your act, I guess you're not as stupid as you led me to believe"

The boy's facial expression didn't falter in the slightest, he glared with determination and Sunnora figured he was much wiser than she gave him credit for.

"I could say the same, but I have to admit, it wouldn't take a genius to see who you were trying to hide, your acting skills were quite poor".

Sunnora chuckled tauntingly, and sighed.

"So what gave me away apart from my 'poor acting skills'?", Shikamaru frowned at the girl's direction of conversation, _'is she trying to stall?'_

Shikamaru kept his silence but counted the many mistakes she had made the entire time while trying to fool him into believing she was a damsel in distress, it could have been the clothes and mask, the lack of headband to explain her speed, the fact that she had told him she was heading his direction when she was obviously going the opposite way before they knocked into each other, the way she kept changing the limping from one leg to another the whole time they were traveling, or the big one that she said she was visiting her uncle up north when no one lived there within walking distance.

They were so close that most of the boy's line of sight was taken up by the girl's face, they were the same height, he hated being so close to this killer but his jutsu was being extremely limited, there were barely any shadows in the darkness, the moonlight was so hidden he had to make sure he watched his surroundings closely, one wrong move and his jutsu would be broken allowing her the chance to either escape with her speed or kill him off in another form. Analyzing was his best quality as a ninja but he didn't know much about this girl, he was threading on a thin line and he knew it.

"So what? You're not speaking to me now?" she was mocking him and he knew it, almost as if she could read his thoughts.

"I need to ask you one thing"

"Do your annoying questions ever seize?"

Shikamaru's line of sight dropped from her eyes to the middle of her body, "you asked me what gave you away, well it's that pendant you're wearing, it's the first thing I noticed the second I saw you before I collided into you, I knew I had to keep a close eye on you, that symbol means danger".

Sunnora didn't understand how this boy knew so much about the family crest, it was close to being completely unknown in this world as opposed to how it was in her realm. _'So how does this brat recognize it in the first place? There's a lot he's not telling me, I can see it in his eyes'_

"Yeah? So where's the question?"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I really don't have to answer any of your annoying questions anymore you know, the act is up so I don't have to feign to give a shit" Sunnora smirked with an evil grin at the boy, "and just so you know, I've been letting you hold me with your strange ability this whole time, any second I wish to I can break free, I was trying to save my energy for something else but I wouldn't mind using it to kill you this instant".

Shikamaru couldn't tell if the girl was bluffing but he didn't want to underestimate his opponent, this wasn't a game of shogi, the pieces couldn't be moved back once they were moved so he knew he had to be careful.

The silence between them was broken when the girl spoke once more, "I'll consider answering your question if you tell me how you know so much about this crest"

Shikamaru was slightly glad Sunnora had opened up the floor again to start up a conversation; he knew his team was probably searching for him so all he had to do was buy enough time for them to find him and take her back to Konoha for an interrogation.

"I know because I have dealt with someone like you before"

Sunnora scoffed at his ignorant remark, _'this stupid fucker doesn't even know me and he thinks he has me down to the letter…idiot, I'll show him just how much he actually knows when I-'_

"Your pendant…I've seen it once before, it was worn by someone you're probably associated with, or I mean, someone you were once associated with"

"I really doubt that kid, you see, I'm not from around here"

"Neither was he"

'_Why is this kid being so aloof with his responses?_' Sunnora knew she had to get out of here as soon as possible, that dog and those annoying humans would be here at any moment and she would be in a huge mess if that were to happen while being under restraint "You know, my patience is wearing thin, and I'm not very patient to begin with so you're out of luck".

"Well it just so happens that I'm the complete opposite so I could stay here all night, the sun will be coming out in a few hours and by then I could walk you back to my village with you in tow".

Sunnora's eyes widened as she felt something stab her chest from her spine forward, _'Oh how redundant, does everyone here stab you in the back?' _she rolled her eyes and saw the boy's expression change slightly.

"I just pierced you with my shadow sewing technique, my shadow just pierced you where your heart is, you should have been dead but you seem just fine, seems I was right".

Sunnora chuckled and gave the boy a menacing glance, _'my what? Well it doesn't really matter, I shouldn't have to put up with these kid games any longer'_ she started to struggle with the small shadow keeping her still, with enough force and energy she knew she could break free, too bad she wouldn't be able to track down her katana just yet, it would have to wait a little bit later. She looked up at the boy and noticed he wasn't as composed as he was just a few seconds ago; he was now struggling just like she was to keep her under the ability. _'Just a little more'_ with the more she struggled the more demon energy she had to pour in.

"Seems that you and your associate have more in common than just both sharing that same pendant, you both try to fight me off with pure brute strength", Shikamaru spoke through gritted teeth.

'_Why does this kid keep bringing that shit up? I don't even know anyone here' _

"Shut your fucking mouth boy, you don't know anything about me so why don't you just release me from this weird shit and let me kill you, it's inevitable you know? So why fight it?"

Shikamaru glared at her and knew his only salvation now would be for reinforcements to come soon. Shikamaru felt himself struggle to his maximum; he saw the clear blue eyes turn a menacing blood red and he knew she would be able to break free from his jutsu any second now.

With a blood curdling scream Sunnora broke free from his hold and pounced on top the boy with an iron locked grip around his neck. Shikamaru tried to pry the grip off but found his strength dwindling with each second as his neck was being crushed.

"You thought you were so smart huh? You thought you had me all figured out huh? You even thought you had me beat when you tricked me with the log swap but you never had a chance of beating me, not for a second, so now you're going to die right here to prove that you're helpless".

Desperation and irritation mixed together when Sunnora heard the muffled voices heading in their direction, _'it must be those meddling bastards and that dog, but I can't leave yet, I have to kill him off first'._

Her grip tightened even more as Shikamaru lost consciousness, just as she was about to finish him off for good a slight pinch resonated from her shoulder blade knocking her back off of Shikamaru.

"What the fuck was that?"

Sunnora looked at her shoulder and noticed a shuriken sticking out of her shoulder, looking up she saw the familiar faces of the stupid book obsessed man, the annoying blonde loudmouth, the nagging pink haired girl and the pale boy with a stupid look on his face.

The silver haired man looked up from her face and to the left of Sunnora and spoke, "Neji do it now".

'_Neji? What?'_

Sunnora turned her face slightly but only caught a glimpse of the boy as he stood a foot behind her.

"Gentle Fist, Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms", without the slightest of hesitation in his voice the boy came forward with such speed it rivaled even hers. The blows came forth with precision as she was knocked backwards every time the boy's fist made contact with her body.

"Four palms", she tried to dodge most blows but it was impossible, her vision was getting blurry and it was almost unreal how precise the boy's movements were. She knew he was speaking with a clear tone but to her his voice was being muffled.

"Sixty Four Palms", Sunnora was knocked into the air and with agility the boy went after her not once missing a step. The force and accuracy of his blows would have ripped anyone else apart, probably crippling them for life, for once Sunnora was glad for her demon blood. The torture was over when she noticed the stinging had stopped and she lay motionless on the ground, her eyes were halfway open and she noticed the boy step aside from her and walk back to the group.

"Good job Neji, she won't be able to move for a while, we can carry her back to the village with ease now, Sakura go check on Shikamaru make sure he's okay then we will head back to Konoha", the silver haired man saw the pink haired girl turn around but not before placing a hand on her shoulder making her glance his way once more.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi grinned and sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "um well, while you go check on Shikamaru there isn't much for the rest of us to do so can you-"

Sakura got the hint as she reached into her bag and pulled out a little red book, the smile on the man's face really couldn't have gotten any bigger.

Sakura smiled back and headed in the direction of Tenten, Lee, and Gai where they were huddled around an unconscious Shikamaru.

Sunnora frowned at herself for being this careless, how could a group of stupid kids and two idiotic adult HUMANS get the best of her? She was being made a fool here and if anyone else from her realm saw her like this it would bring her great shame. Knowing there would be great consequences for doing this she figured she didn't have much of an option, it was either getting hauled back like an animal to these human's village, or escaping and dealing with what was to come later on.

Still in her demon form she started the ritual for one of her five demon chants, she figured this one would be great for escaping, it was imperative for those only to be used when a sacrifice was being offered but right now she hadn't set up the proper way of offering these souls as sacrifices, if she killed them off like this they would just die, nothing tricky about it, their souls wouldn't go to her realm and her father had always urged her against it, but she didn't have time or enough energy to set up a sacrificial chant.

Her demonic red eyes turned completely black, and a heavy aura surrounded the area as she started to recite.

"Everyone get back!" Neji shouted the order and sure enough the group watched as they were surrounded in black fog _'I don't understand how she was able to speak, let alone use chakra skills, I should have stopped all circulation'_.

Sunnora stood up and grabbed her pendant tossing in into the air and watching it levitate, the once silver piece was now blood red and spinning at such speed that it could shred through anything it touched.

It was completely silent, the only noise being the quiet breaths of the observing ninja and Sunnora's chanting.

"Blood Bath"

With the preparations complete Sunnora watched as the sky turned black and the fog got thicker, she knew it would be impossible for them to escape with their life in this fog, unless of course they could see through it, and unless they had demon eyes it would be futile. The radius of the demon chant only covered about a mile but they didn't know that. Knowing that things were finally going her way Sunnora grabbed the spinning pendant and winced as it cut into her hand deeply but she ignored the pain and placed it back on its silver bindings.

She knew the second part of the ritual was about to start so she had to hurry and get out of the fog, she saw the eyes of the humans watching her and grinned at them one last time before dashing off completely out of sight.

* * *

**I will make a deal with you guys, I will try to update once every two weeks, with each review I get one day will be cut from the two weeks, so I just hope I don't get 14 reviews the first day or I'll be in trouble lol**

**Reviews are welcomed (: **

**I might add some Sunnora/Hidan for the next chapter! **


	16. The Suspense

**I promise next chapter will be longer! It really will be fun to write the next one, this one I had some trouble with...don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.  
**Rated M for Language

* * *

**Chapter 16: "The Suspense" **

"Blood Bath"

With the preparations complete Sunnora watched as the sky turned black and the fog got thicker, she knew it would be impossible for them to escape with their life in this fog, unless of course they could see through it, and unless they had demon eyes it would be futile. The radius of the demon chant only covered about a mile but they didn't know that. Knowing that things were finally going her way Sunnora grabbed the spinning pendant and winced as it cut into her hand deeply but she ignored the pain and placed it back on its silver bindings.

She knew the second part of the ritual was about to start so she had to hurry and get out of the fog, she saw the eyes of the humans watching her and grinned at them one last time before dashing off completely out of sight.

"WAIT", Naruto lunged forward trying to chase the girl that had run away, but only managed to step further into the fog, he looked back exasperated and noticed that his team wasn't behind him anymore.

"NARUTO, where are you?" Naruto perked up when he heard Sakura's voice and turned around, he was able to hear her voice clearly, just couldn't see her at all.

Spinning around for what seemed like forever, Naruto finally stopped when he started feeling dizzy.

"Sakura-chan! I'm right here!" Naruto placed his palms in front of his eyes and could only see the outline when they were practically touching his face.

"Naruto you idiot! Why did you run? Stay where you are, when the fog lets up we can go after her, we still have her scent remember?" Sakura said with concern in her voice, her concern turned into shock when she felt a sudden pain down her arm.

* * *

With tremendous speed, Sunnora escaped the fog with ease in less than a couple of seconds. She was relieved that she had made it in time for she knew the second stage of the ritual was about to commence.

Her eyes turned their natural light blue hue as she let the demon energy escape her. She was really fatigued with the amount of energy consumption that ritual required along with her speed that she almost collapsed as she strode along the path.

"I can't believe those kids have pushed me this far…it's unacceptable how someone of a higher being such as myself is being tested to these limits by a bunch of pathetic humans".

Sunnora snickered as she limped along the road in her tired state, _'where's that Shikamaru brat when I need him? I'm not actually faking the limp this time'._

Noticing a few signs straight ahead, Sunnora tried to ignore the pain in her limbs and headed in that direction.

* * *

Sakura gasped as she saw that her arm had a long cut along the side that was shallow but blood still trickled down at a steady pace.

"Sakura what's wro-" Kakashi was cut off when he too felt the pinch of pain as he felt something wet grace his cheek, noticing indeed that it was blood, his blood, but that wasn't all, it was mixed in with something black. _'This is bad, we have to find a way to get out of here'._

Sakura noticed her sensei's lack of words and assumed he had also felt what she had just a moment before.

"OW!"Naruto frowned when he felt the warm trickle of blood run slowly down his forehead. "Everyone, I think we're being attacked so be on guard!" Naruto pulled out his kunai and stood motionless just in case the enemy tried coming from any direction.

"Naruto, calm down, I don't sense any chakra nearby, means we must be in a ninjutsu of some kind, l have never seen anything like it". Kakashi tried to sense anything out of the ordinary but everything seemed alright, he looked up and using his sharingan he could make out details a little better. The sky was ominously dark, _'is it going to rain?'_

Seeing droplets come down steadily he placed his arm out and caught a single drop in his hand before abruptly pulling it away. Analyzing his hand he saw traces of deep gashes and his blood was starting to pool, the falling drops were black like the substance they had found in the woods earlier, but this time it seemed to contain some materializing agent that caused it to be needle sharp and thin. The droplets were falling down quicker now and avoiding them would soon be impossible for him and very dangerous for the rest of the team.

"OW! Okay..something hit me for real this time", Naruto felt the pain again, but this time it had cut very deeply into his shoulder. "We might be standing under a pinecone tree".

"They're called pine trees and how have you deduced it was a pinecone?" Neji voiced sarcastically from a few feet away.

"Well, it was sharp, pinecones are sharp right?"

"Naruto-kun is correct, pinecones are very sharp Neji-kun, I got hit by one last week when I was training with Gai-sensei" Lee said as he tried facing Naruto but just kept turning around.

"It's not a pinecone…" Neji said as he couldn't believe the idiots that surrounded him.

A few seconds later, the black substance was starting to come down faster than before and multiplying in numbers, in a minute or two it would come down like rain and it would be over unless they thought of something.

* * *

'_If someone saw the state I'm in right now I would surely be taunted and humiliated for eternity' _Sunnora made her way through what looked like a small town. There were local stands with what she recognized as food that humans couldn't survive without. She shook her head at the notion, _'they really are very weak and vulnerable creatures…those humans'._

The few people that were outside were people that had to get up extra early for chores or work, hours before dawn, some courageous idiots that she passed gave her quizzical glances and disapproving looks mostly from some of the older people. She was too drained to kill them for looking her way without bowing but she wasn't tired enough to glare at them with a menacing scowl; no one dared to look at her after that.

Sunnora limped through the town and even though most of the shops were closed, there were a few open, she saw a bigger building up ahead and noticed an older man sitting outside the steps. He looked her way when she was a few feet away from where he was perched. Sunnora was about to call him out to mind his own damn business when he smiled at her. It caught her off guard, no one ever smiled at her when all she ever wore was an unpleasant facial expression.

He got up from his chair and walked towards her, she could tell from his pace that he was struggling to walk, _'well that's one thing we have in common'._

He eyed her from head to toe which pissed the goddess off but almost killed the man when he had the audacity to grab her hand.

Yanking it quite harshly from his grip she was about to scream at him when he started chuckling.

'_What the hell is up with all the psychotic freaks in this realm?!'_

"I'm sorry miss, I shouldn't have grabbed your hand like that, it seems I just got carried away, I just got so excited when I saw you from my chair, I'm not good with descriptions and all but I could tell you're that angel I heard about, no mistaking it", the old man showed all his teeth in a large smile that made Sunnora cringe.

'_Angel?'_

"Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself, I'm Mamoru Masa, I'm Yasu's brother!"

Sunnora didn't want to know how or remotely cared how this guy knew her or was mistaking her for someone else because he was some old fart but right now she didn't care and started walking away from the man without a second glance back.

"Oh no! Are you hurt?" Masa hurried along as quickly as he could with his injury and walked alongside Sunnora who hadn't stopped limping. "Please let me help you out! Stay in my inn until you get better".

Sunnora stopped abruptly which led to the man behind her to almost topple over. Sunnora turned around and faced Masa who was now struggling to keep his balance.

"Come with me child, my inn is that building over there", he said pointing to the two story building, it wasn't the nicest inn but it would do for what it was necessary for, and that was a good rest to recover demon energy.

"I'll stay", Sunnora waited for the man to step aside and started heading in the direction of the inn.

"That's good to hear child, you're really an angel from heaven you know?"

Sunnora almost laughed out loud at that but didn't lose her composure. _'He really is one senile old man, has even lost his memory but it benefits me in the end'._

They reached the lobby of the inn and Masa took a small bronze key from one of his cabinets. He led Sunnora upstairs to her room and showed her in.

"Okay well this is your room, I'm sorry it couldn't be nicer but it seems this is the last room we have available, I really didn't want to put you in this floor", the older man looked down as if feeling guilty but Sunnora dismissed it and looked around.

The room was small and simple, it had a small bed with crisp sheets and a single pillow on top. There was a window showing the outside of the inn where she had stood just minutes ago and a small desk with a few books and a candle illuminating the otherwise pitch dark room.

"Oh my! I just noticed your wound, please come to the restroom so I can clean it up", Masa didn't wait for her response as he hurried out the room and headed straight for the restroom looking for a few bandages and ointment.

'_What the hell is that crazy old man talking about, I'm not-'_

Sunnora's eyes visibly widened when she noticed the wound on her hand was still open and bleeding, now that she recalled back on it, she did feel a slight pain in her hand as she was walking but she didn't dwell much on it, she was immortal after all, so why wasn't the wound from the ritual healing up?

'_It couldn't be-'_

Sunnora clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows as she realized the consequences that came with using demon rituals for non-sacrificial purposes. She didn't know how long it would last or if this was all that would come of the consequences but she figured lying low in an inn for a while was her best option at the moment.

Heading to the restroom she sat on one of the benches that aligned the wall and placed her hand in the warm water that Masa had prepared. "Good, now I just need to wash off that black stuff that got in your wound, wow…it really got in deep didn't it?" he kept washing but Sunnora scoffed at his obvious stupidity and pulled her hand out of the water.

"It's fine now, just give me the bandage, I can do it myself".

Masa looked a little startled but brushed it off and handed over the white stretchy material. "You really are a savior to our family, I had been talking to Yasu, trying to convince him to quit that stupid idea he had about turning into a criminal, my brother is too old to be thinking like some punk kid, what you did for him and his family is really a miracle. He told me how you healed his whole farm after that bastard Ryota burned it. At first I didn't believe it but I heard the sincerity in his voice, he told me about you, the angel and described you perfectly, I really couldn't have missed you with the description he gave me. One thing that had me a little skeptical was one detail that wasn't too accurate, he said you were always smiling, but I mean you must have had a bad day, so it's understandable, you were injured after all. How about later when you're feeling better you take off that mask and show me that smile my brother went on and on about huh? So stay here as long as you want, you are forever in the Mamoru families' gratitude".

Sunnora finished bandaging her hand and was about to head back to her room when he stopped her before she could pass him by.

"Also I want to warn you dear, there is a psychotic man across from your room, I didn't want to tell you to not frighten you but I feel like you should know. I really am sorry that that was the last room available, he's very violent and threatened to kill me. I don't like causing trouble here so hopefully he leaves soon, if you need anything at all, I'm in the first room downstairs, sleep well child".

Sunnora walked back to her room as she watched the old man head downstairs.

She stood just outside her door and stared at the opposite room for a couple of seconds. _'So there's some psychotic nut job right across from me huh? Maybe I'll have someone normal to talk to around here then'._

She was so fatigued that once inside the room she let her body fall limply on the bed without a second thought and fell asleep.

* * *

Hidan couldn't sleep; he had been sleeping for a couple of hours now but his mind kept wandering making it impossible to get a whole night's rest. He was wondering if that girl was dead or if she had managed to survive somehow.

Hidan smirked as an idea came to his mind, he knew sacrifices always made him feel better and after one he always fell asleep quite contently. He looked around the room and noticed a small silver tray on the desk and contemplated whether to use the rusty looking knife as a weapon, he decided to go along with it seeing as he didn't have much of an option.

'_Jashin-sama, I am forever grateful to you for saving me from that hell hole, one day I will repay you with the sacrifice of that piece of shit that put me there in the first place, but for now I'll have to sacrifice meager souls to you until I can get my ultimate revenge'._

Walking outside his door he noticed the halls were dark, the only light was a small candle in the restroom across the hall. He also noticed the floor had six bedrooms, with three on each side of the hall, his being the one closest to the windows. Placing the knife up his sleeve he walked to the door adjacent to his and turned the handle.

* * *

"Well that was a waste of time; it's so late you know? A girl needs her beauty sleep", Ino and the rest of the team were standing headed back to the village after failing to get much work done at the bar where the massacre had taken place.

"Ino is right Yamato-sensei, but first, let's find Shikamaru, I don't understand why he didn't show up, it's not like him", Choji had been concerned about Shikamaru the whole time so they didn't do much investigating, deciding it would be better to do it when the sun came up and their missing member, the one with great observation skill came with them.

"I'm still going to have to report this to the Hokage, let's-", Yamato stopped in his tracks, the duo stopped beside him.

"What's wrong?" Ino and Choji both said in unison.

"We are going to have to take a detour, follow me"

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! A lot of Hidan/Sunnora next chapter (: **


	17. The Second First Impression

**I just loved writing this chapter, that's why it was posted quicker than my previous ones.**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Naruto.**

Rated M for Language**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 17: "The Second First Impression"**

'_Jashin-sama, I am forever grateful to you for saving me from that hell hole, one day I will repay you with the sacrifice of that piece of shit that put me there in the first place, but for now I'll have to sacrifice meager souls to you until I can get my ultimate revenge'._

Walking outside his door he noticed the halls were dark, the only light was a small candle in the restroom across the hall. He also noticed the floor had six bedrooms, with three on each side of the hall, his being the one closest to the windows. Placing the knife up his sleeve he walked to the door adjacent to his and turned the handle.

Hidan turned the doorknob with a grimace adorning his face as the hinges screamed for some well needed oil. Whoever was on the other side of the door would have had to be dead or in a comatose state to not have woken up from that noise.

Peeking inside he could barely manage to see a thing, the small candle on-top the adjacent desk had long gone burned out and only a small trail of smoke lay in its stead. Noticing the strong candle in the bathroom he made his way in that direction.

Picking up the candle the dull knife fell out of his sleeve, and made a clanking sound as it hit the floor.

'_Fuck! Being sneaky isn't my thing, I should have just barged in there and performed the sacrifice even if it is pitch black, damn..I really miss my badass scythe' _

Making his way back to the room he planned to paint with blood he stood by the door and let the candle illuminate as much as it could. He took in the desk, the window; the bed…Hidan smirked as he saw the person he planned to sacrifice was still fast asleep.

With a grin he lunged forward and pulled the sheets away with the dull knife only a centimeter away from his victim's face only to find his heart skip a beat at the sight, for what lay on the bed wasn't what he was expecting to see.

Dropping the knife he sat on the bed next to the sleeping girl and took in her frowning facial expression.

'_Geez dipshit…seems you don't always look so nice and innocent'_

Sunnora's eyes fluttered open as she felt something or someone nudge her shoulder.

"Hey dipshit wake up!"

'_What the hell? Who dares try to wake me?'_

"Come on! Stop being so lazy, do as I say, what..you're not going to wake up and look up at me with that goofy smile of yours anymore? I know you missed me"

Hidan kept pestering her by shaking her shoulders and to add emphasis to his point he started poking her sides.

"I won't stop until you get up"

Sunnora couldn't believe some idiot had broken into her room and was rudely trying to wake her up, with anger building inside of her she brought her arm up and punched the man straight in the face. She didn't know why she couldn't see him clearly, she could see perfectly in darkness, so why couldn't she see the man that was going to die by her hands in a few seconds?

Sunnora scoffed as she realized it must be from the consequences that came with doing the demon ritual, she looked at her hand and it only proved her theory correct because the wound was still there. The blood from the wound had seized but she could still feel the injury if she put pressure on it.

'_I've become so weak it's pitiful, feeling pain from something this minor, it's almost like I'm human, the embarrassment…'_

Moving her body up and in a sitting position on the bed she saw the man on the floor holding his face where she had hit him.

'_That hit would have killed him if I hadn't been severely weakened by the ritual'._

"Wow dipshit! What was that for? Are you mad because I left you?"

'_Does he know m-…wait did he just call me dipshit?'_

Sunnora got up from the bed and sauntered over to the man on the floor.

"I dare you to repeat that again"

Hidan couldn't read the girl's expression, that mask that she kept around her neck was now covering most of her face, maybe she only places it on when she goes to sleep, _'she sure is a weird one'. _Why had her demeanor taken such a drastic change? _'Does she think I betrayed her?'_

The silver haired male smirked and got up, now face to face with the glaring blue eyed girl.

"Now now come on, don't get so mad at me, I only left you there because I was trying to look out for you, you did put me back together after all, it was no trouble at all, well actually it was and you should be forever grateful to me but you already knew that, you should have seen the trouble I went through to find some water".

Sunnora had no clue what this idiot was rambling on about…_'why does every human I come in contact with keep talking to me as if they know me? It's pissing me off'_

"I really hope you know that I don't take you walking into my room and waking me up so lightly, and I also want to let you know that I will make you pay for it with your pathetic life".

Hidan was shocked for a second at the girl's words but after a moment of silence between the two he started to laugh like a maniac.

"Wow, I almost believed you for a second there, but you can't fool me, I'm not stupid, now come on we should go already, we have somewhere to be".

Sunnora scoffed at the man's words and was about to snap his neck just to shut him up from his useless talk but her eyes widened as the man stepped forward into a view from the shadows as the candle he was holding illuminated his face quite clearly.

'_That face, I would recognize it anywhere, but it can't be-'_

"Hidan"

Hidan raised an eyebrow at the girl then frowned, "don't get so familiar with me, just because you're my new lackey doesn't mean you can address me without honorifics, remember, it's Hidan-sama".

'_How is he in one piece? He should be in a million pieces in those woods, that's where I left him…but I do recall waking up with him being nowhere in sight…ah this is so confusing, why can't I remember anything?'_

Feeling frustrated Sunnora placed her head in her hands and tried to remember anything she could about that night but it was all a blur, she remembered being sent to this human realm, the unbearable pain, the children she almost killed, talking with the priest, going back to retrieve the scroll her father assigned her, reading that said scroll and getting pissed off because she had to rescue Hidan, going to rescue the idiot, digging him up and leaving him in a pile before she almost took her frustration out on him because her father had refused to send her back home…and..and.._'ughh this is so frustrating, I remember everything so clearly up to the point where I get burned alive by that unknown phenomenon'._

Hidan sighed as he saw the innocent girl turned psycho latch onto her head, and face downward. "I knew you would come around, but we don't have time for apologies, we need to go, the sun will be rising soon and we have a long walk ahead of us".

He started walking out of the room and snickered, "It really sucks having to be this responsible, I don't know how Kakuzu did it..must be an old man thing".

Sunnora snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the door close, and realized she was once again alone.

'_Maybe my memory might come back if I talk to Hidan…No! That's just impossible, I can't even stand looking at the guy without my blood boiling in anger, it's not like I can even act to be nice around that bastard! I hate him'_

With determination in her eyes she decided she would torture Hidan into telling her what exactly happened between the time she dug him up and she woke up in some random forest. Even if he did talk without the need for torture she would do it anyways, it wouldn't be fun without some blood being shed, a grin appeared on her face as she pictured it, _'then I'm going to do what I was planning on doing before I was almost burned alive, and that is, attempt to kill him so I can use the same method on my father'._

With a set goal in mind, Sunnora walked out of the room and tried sensing his presence but it was futile, for her demon energy was almost non-existent and her regular energy was still too low, _'bastard, I would have been feeling much stronger if I hadn't been woken up from my sleep, but he'll pay for that soon enough'._

Sunnora made her way downstairs in search for the silver haired nuisance, she clenched a dull knife she had found on the floor of her room in her uninjured hand but stopped when she spotted a familiar face.

"Oh dear, is something the matter?" the old inn owner wore a concerned expression that made the goddess cringe with distaste.

"Nothing is wrong"

Masa let out a sigh of relief at her words and quickly cheered up, "That's good to hear child, I was worried all night for you I barely slept at all".

'_Well that makes two of us, stupid bastard Hidan'_

"You shouldn't be up so early though dear the sun hasn't even risen yet, how about you go back upstairs to sleep and I'll fix you up something to eat, I don't usually do this but you're a special guest after all".

"Don't trouble yourself; I have no interest in your mediocre food".

Masa laughed which caught Sunnora off-guard but ignored it as she had noticed a pattern in a human's random and frankly naïve reactions, _'no wonder they are such weak creatures'._

"Did Yasu tell you that? He would insult my cooking but I assure you child, I was once a restaurant chef, I'll make sure it's delicious, you can tell me what kind of stuff you like and dislike and I'll try my best".

Masa's smile made Sunnora cringe, _'they are all fools'._

"I like bloodshed; it is what I live for, carnage and death"

Masa blinked several times trying to comprehend the words the girl had spoken and suddenly it all clicked in the old man's head.

"Ohhh~ haha you young kids and your slang, I'm an old man dear, you shouldn't use those kind of phrases with me but I understand, I'll make you a delicious juicy steak, rare of course, with all the blood and juice attached, now if you'll excuse me, I'll head to the kitchen and get started on that, you head upstairs and rest".

Sunnora was once again alone.

'_What the hell just happened?'_

* * *

"What do you mean Yamato-sensei? Shikamaru is down there? But I don't sense anything, how do you know for sure?" Ino was having a hard time comprehending the situation.

"Yes, for your best interest I planted small tracker seeds in your food before we left, and Shikamaru's seed is down there, along with faint signs of chakra from some other individuals"

Ino and Choji were both shocked at this news, "he could be surrounded by enemies, we have to help him", Choji was about to head in the direction of the thick fog when he was stopped by Yamato.

"Don't rush off like that Choji; I have a bad feeling about this fog"

"Could it be the enemy's ninjutsu?"

Yamato shook his head in dismissal, "no, I don't sense any chakra, it's much different but whatever it is, let's not be hasty".

Ino and Choji were both very concerned about their team partner but they knew rushing into things always made the matter worse. "Okay Yamato-sensei, what should we do?"

"Ino, I need you to use your mind transfer jutsu on one of those birds, see if you can get a better view of the situation from up above".

"Got it", Ino locked eyes with a bird that was flying just a bit ahead and took the position.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu"

Choji caught Ino's body before it hit the floor and looked up to see the bird flying in the direction above the fog, "she did it".

After watching the bird circle around the radius of the fog, the bird took a turn and kept flying away from the area, Ino's body started stirring and the two males awaited to hear what she had learned.

The blond girl's eyes opened with a startled gasp, making the other two very uneasy. "What is it Ino? What did you find?"

"Yamato-sensei, we have to help them, I saw not only Shikamaru but the other two teams that were in that room with us when we got our mission, it seems the fog covers a pretty extensive area, about a mile in radius. I tried to get a better look but I couldn't really see much, the fog was too thick, and when I tried getting a closer look I was hit with something sharp from the sky, almost scraped the bird's entire wing but I was able to dodge most of it".

Yamato frowned at the news, why were Team Kakashi and Team Gai over here in the first place? This was nowhere near the location where the incident with those kids occurred, something was off.

"Okay, Choji we have to get rid of the clouds, I have an idea, first I'm going to need you to use your multi-size jutsu followed by your human bullet tank jutsu".

Choji nodded and transformed, his whole body becoming ten times larger, he then transformed again into a huge boulder.

"Good job Choji, I'm going to create a wooden pillar to get you at the right level with those clouds, with enough rotation we should be able to move the clouds away, along with the fog, I hope you're not afraid of heights", Yamato started his jutsu after receiving a confirmatory nod from Choji.

"Ino stand back a little please", Ino jumped back and watched the whole ground level under Choji start lifting up at incredible speed until she could barely see Choji, even at his enormous size.

"**Okay Choji, I'm going to grab onto you as you spin so you won't fall off, just spin at a counter-clock wise direction**", Yamato yelled then extended his arms into the air as they became wood, latching onto Choji with ease he gave the signal to commence.

Choji started spinning at tremendous speed creating a huge pressure of wind to start gathering. "Wow, it's working Yamato-sensei" Ino watched from below as the clouds were being pushed away from them and in the other direction.

Yamato along with Ino gasped as the fog made way to a landscape covered in black liquid, the once green grass was completely engulfed with little traces of green left.

'_What on earth could have caused this?'_

* * *

**I really do feel bad for Sunnora, it's like she woke up from a bad hangover and can't remember what happened the night before, only demon version lol, now let's see how light Sunnora handles all the trouble dark Sunnora caused *sigh* **

**Thanks for reading, now don't forget to review~ **

**(:**


	18. The Reinforcements

**Quick Valentine's Day update! **

**It's been so much easier to write these last couple of chapters because they're just fun to write and I can see everything that happens and will happen with ease, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine**

Rated M for Language

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**Chapter 18: The Reinforcements **

Masa blinked several times trying to comprehend the words the girl had spoken and suddenly it all clicked in the old man's head.

"Ohhh~ haha you young kids and your slang, I'm an old man dear, you shouldn't use those kind of phrases with me but I understand, I'll make you a delicious juicy steak, rare of course, with all the blood and juice attached, now if you'll excuse me, I'll head to the kitchen and get started on that, you head upstairs and rest".

Sunnora was once again alone.

'_What the hell just happened?'_

* * *

Ignoring the insisting old man that kept addressing her with such horrible and truly unacceptable terms she tried to ignore the pain in her head and started looking for that annoying silver haired nuisance. Even though she was tired she knew compensation would soon be awarded to her for all her hard work, getting her hands on that man and torturing would bring a feeling of elation that would make these horrible experiences in the human realm all disappear from her mind. She was sure that luck was far out of her reach when she couldn't find Hidan anywhere. It was still pitch dark outside and it didn't help at all that her demon energy was still almost non-existent.

'_There is no way I can use my tracker chant to get my katana back with this miniscule amount of energy that I have…this is why I refuse to use demon rituals, they are so troublesome, now I can't get my katana back, or use any other simple rituals and to make things worse, my body isn't healing at all, it is almost as if I'm some human, where I actually have to rest and heal with time…it's so pathetic, I'm so weak I want to just crawl in a hole and die' _the idea of being in a hole and dying brought a genuine smile to Sunnora's face as she recalled how she first saw Hidan when she dug him up, _'maybe that's what he was doing in that hole…well if I was him, I'd probably do the same, he's so-'_

A startling noise pulled her away from her thoughts when she was almost knocked over as a silver haired man threw the front door open causing her to jump back, hitting her back against the wall. Wincing for a second as she made the contact, she looked up and saw a smirking Hidan.

"There you are dipshit, I was looking all over for you, when I didn't see you in your room I thought you had left me again".

Just his voice was enough to anger the goddess, and this little nickname he had for her was enough to push her over the edge.

"Shut the fuck up you stupid human!", she ran towards him and was about to go for his throat when he caught her wrist in his hand with little effort.

'_Shit…my speed…my strength, they're-'_

"What are you trying to do? This isn't the time for your little games now, we were supposed to leave a while back…geez you're like a child, how old are you again?"

Gritting her teeth she looked up at him and narrowed her eyes, trying to show him just how angry she was,

'_Why is this happening now? Why is it that when I finally have him in front of me again I don't have the strength to kill him? I'm at the same level as all the weak humans in this realm, I'm truly pathetic', _Sunnora dropped her head in shame and let her arm fall loosely to her side as Hidan had let his grip go.

"You've gone completely crazy, are you seriously still mad over what happened last night? I told you what happened already, geez dipshit if you keep this up I might start thinking you're turning into me".

Sunnora quirked a brow at this and looked up at the man in front of her. She figured she couldn't use her speed or strength to kill him off now but if she stuck close to this man and feigned being whatever he thought she was she could not only get information out of him but maybe find a way to get out of this realm and return home, her father's priest did say she could go home if she stuck close to this man…impossible as the idea seemed it was her only way out and it seems she didn't have an option.

'_Plus, maybe I can kill him when I catch him off-guard, in my weakened state that's my only choice'_

She tried to hide the unpleasant look on her face and spoke through her gritted teeth. "and what would that be?…H-Hidan"

Sunnora could clearly see the surprise on his face as she spoke to him.

"Well a real killer of course", he grinned and stared at the girl for a couple of seconds.

A couple seconds too long in Sunnora's opinion for she couldn't hide the frown that was plastered on her face and looked at him square in the eye.

"WHAT!" she shouted at the man and crossed her arms at the irritation she felt, she hated being scrutinized and she knew that that was what Hidan was doing, observing her like some experiment.

"No, nothing, shit…you're moody today, something is definitely off about you, are you still sick?" he placed one of his hands on her forehead which made the goddess freeze in place. Her eye twitched as he removed his hand and placed it over his own forehead and then back again onto hers.

"Nope, you feel fine, but maybe you're just tired, ugh even as irritating as the idea seems to me I guess you could go back upstairs and rest, I can postpone the walk for a few hours, well until sunrise, then we'll really have to leave, I just don't want you all grouchy throughout the trip".

Sunnora slapped his hand away from her face and pushed him back further away with a quick shove to his chest.

"I'm fine! But touch me again and you'll regret it…painfully so", she walked slowly towards him like a predator and grabbed the collar to his cloak bringing their faces closer together, "do you understand, Hidan", her voice was barely audible but her message was conveyed through her tone and eyes that screamed how she felt.

Hidan nodded and stood upright as she pulled away from him, turning her back towards him. He scratched the back of his head and tried wondering what had gotten her so mad, she was fine last night.

'_I don't understand girls'…_

* * *

Ino ran past Yamato who was still holding his jutsu in place, her shoes were damp with the black substance as she made her way through the area. Her blue eyes widened in shock as she clearly saw the outline of seven individuals. They were all badly bruised, some more than others.

"Everyone! What happened here!?" she yelled as she made her way over to them. Kakashi was breathing heavily and she could see that he had pulled down the mask covering his left eye, the strange red pattern was barely ever seen and she wondered about it for a second but her concern intensified when she could see blood gathering around his lower eyelid. Sakura and Sai stepped away from their sensei and watched as he collapsed to his knees, she could tell they were all weakened, especially Kakashi. Sakura leaned in close to her sensei and Ino saw the familiar green glow around her friend's palms emit healing chakra, she used her ability to heal Kakashi of the many cuts he had all over his body. He seemed unconscious and lay in disarray barely managing to keep his one good eye open. Sai crouched next to Sakura and just observed with admiration at the man who had saved their lives.

She turned around and saw Gai and Lee both on the ground panting like dogs, they still had the small red glow that came with using the eight gates technique. Turning slightly to the side she saw Tenten close to Neji who had just a second ago stopped rotating, she knew the technique quite well it was the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, she had seen Hinata in the training grounds often, practicing it with diligence. He was also panting, his chakra almost completely spent and her eyes directed downward by Neji's feet as she saw an unconscious team mate on the ground.

She ran over to the group and held Shikamaru's head, inspecting him closely, he was definitely unconscious. "Neji, Tenten, what happened here? Why is Shikamaru here?" she was so confused and could see the confusion adorn the face of Choji and Yamato as they ran up to the group. She also saw a very energy drained Naruto run over to Kakashi's side. Focusing back on their side she looked up with desperation at the brunettes that stood by her side. Yamato and Choji both looked at them as well, awaiting any answer.

Neji was still catching his breath and looked seconds away from collapsing so Tenten spoke up. "We are not entirely sure what happened either, this all happened not too long ago, we were all doing our mission tracking down an individual who attacked some children from the Academy not too far from the village late last night. As we were doing investigative work around the area where the incident took place we found something that we didn't recognize so then Kakashi summoned Pakkun who was able to track down the person from that something that was left behind, as we were rushing to catch her, I overheard Pakkun tell Kakashi that there was a familiar scent in close proximity to the criminal, I'm assuming that was Shikamaru because when we arrived he was getting strangled, Neji managed to catch her and stopped all chakra circulation but I really don't know what happened next, she stood up like nothing had happened and started saying some weird thing, I'm not too sure on that…anyways, that's when this strange black fog appeared and she managed to escape because of it. A bit after she left, it started raining, only it wasn't water, it was black and really sharp..kind of like needles falling from the sky. The speed and the number alone made it almost impossible to escape but we managed", she looked up and Neji and smiled kindly, "thank you Neji".

Neji nodded and looked ahead in the direction where she had run off to. "Another thing is certain, she is very dangerous and we cannot let her escape".

Yamato and Choji nodded in agreement, Ino watched mesmerized at the information, "but wait!" she looked from Neji to Tenten and then back again, "so what was Shikamaru doing here? Our mission isn't even anywhere close to here; we had to rush out of our way to come this way so what happened?"

Tenten looked from Ino to Shikamaru and sighed, "Sorry Ino but I don't know, we will have to wait until he wakes up to ask him, only he can tell us".

Ino nodded; quite perplexed by the amount of information she had just received. She watched Kakashi being held up by Sai and Naruto as they made their way over joining them. "Kakashi-senpai, are you okay!?"

Kakashi looked up and smiled at his younger fellow, "Ah Yamato, so you were the one that saved us huh? I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't arrived when you did".

Yamato looked over at Choji and Ino and smiled, "yeah well it wasn't just me, it was all thanks to Choji and Ino's help, you guys really did a great job".

Ino and Choji smiled at the praise and looked back at Kakashi, quite worried about the state he was in.

Kakashi let out a small chuckle and looked at all their worried faces, "Ah don't worry everyone, I'm fine, it's just tiring using that technique, seems I haven't gotten the use of it quite yet so it wears me out quite rapidly".

Yamato nodded when he realized he was talking about his mangekyou sharingan.

Naruto grabbed hold of his side and Sai's side of Kakashi and hugged him in a bear hug. "I'm so happy you're okay Kakashi-sensei! You protected Sakura-chan!" everyone's eyes widened as they saw Kakashi squirm in pain at the tight embrace of his former student.

"Naruto! You idiot let Kakashi-sensei go!" she punched Naruto in the gut and carried Kakashi's weight on her side with ease, "Geez Naruto always causing problems".

Naruto pouted and everyone gave him an exasperated sigh in return.

Sakura glanced over everyone to see if anyone was seriously injured and felt her worry lighten when she saw everyone looked fine, they were all bloody and extremely tired but nothing life threatening.

"So Tenten told us she got away", Yamato voiced.

"Yeah, I tried going after her but the fog was too thick I couldn't see a thing", Naruto looked over to the area where she had disappeared to.

Yamato also looked ahead in that direction and sighed, _'No wonder Tsunade-sama was so concerned, she really is dangerous'._

* * *

After Ino and Sakura treated everyone of their cuts, all the girls gathered around Shikamaru as the rest of the team talked over strategy and planned what they would do next.

Tenten turned her head facing both girls and then back at Shikamaru, "so how is he?"

Ino frowned quite concerned as she stared at the boy and then looked up at the brunette, "I mean, he's completely fine, his vitals and everything else is normal, his chakra levels are low though, meaning he was probably fighting her before you guys found him, it would also explain the nasty mark around his neck, you did say he was being strangled right?"

Tenten started laughing quietly which got the confused stares from both of her fellow kunoichi.

"Oh I'm sorry, it just seems kind of ironic that Shikamaru, the king of strangling jutsus would be almost killed by strangulation", the girl kept giggling but stopped when the disapproving glances came her way.

"I'm sorry", Tenten bowed her head in shame.

"Anyways, let's move him somewhere else then join the rest in planning how we're going to catch this criminal, we have to make her pay for what she did".

The girls moved Shikamaru over where Yamato had built a small cabin for the group to plan. It was still dark out but the sun would be rising soon and they knew it would be much easier to move around in daylight.

"So does everyone know what they're going to do?" Kakashi asked the group of teenagers as they faced Kakashi, Gai and Yamato.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei" the group said in unison.

Everyone was still pretty scratched up but all the bleeding had stopped and chakra levels were pretty stable.

"Okay, Ino and Choji, you stay behind with Yamato and wait until Shikamaru wakes up, then meet with us"

The two nodded their heads and watched the group head out as the sun rose covering the forest with light.

* * *

**okay, well you all know what's coming up next! Next update will be up very soon ^-^**

**Review please! It feeds my interest of writing :D**


	19. The Slip-Up

**Double update day! ****Gift to all my lovely readers for V-day, love you all (: (in the most non-creepy way possible)**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.**

Rated M for Language

* * *

**Chapter 19: The Slip-Up**

Sunnora slapped his hand away from her face and pushed him back further away with a quick shove to his chest. 

"I'm fine! But touch me again and you'll regret it…painfully so", she walked slowly towards him like a predator and grabbed the collar to his cloak bringing their faces closer together, "do you understand, Hidan", her voice was barely audible but her message was conveyed through her tone and eyes that screamed how she felt.

Hidan nodded and stood upright as she pulled away from him, turning her back towards him. He scratched the back of his head and tried wondering what had gotten her so mad, she was fine last night.

'_I don't understand girls'…_

* * *

Sunnora had her back turned to the silver haired man, she was furious and it was taking every fiber of strength she had to keep from turning around this very second and attempting in some way or form to kill Hidan. She really couldn't look at his face for she feared she would crack and go after the man.

'_He always has that smug smirk on his face whenever I see him, or that idiotic self-righteous one that pisses me off too, I can't even handle being with him for a few seconds without wanting to kill him...just how am I suppose to join him on this long trip he's talking about…I guess it really is impossible…maybe I should just-'_

The light tap on her shoulder shocked the goddess for a few seconds, '_didn't I just tell that stupid fucker that he wasn't allowed to touch me?' _with a quick spin on her heel she fisted her hand and gracefully used the other hand to grip onto the man's cloak.

She met shocked eyes and stopped her arm from colliding with the older man's face just before it hit. With a shocked expression of her own she looked ahead and then down when she heard a loud laughter intrude her ears.

Hidan stood at the entrance of the inn, at the end of the small stairway. He was almost on his knees as he grabbed his stomach, the loud laughter from Hidan was like a kick in the face to Sunnora, _'he's laughing…at me'._

"HAHAHA you thought that old gramps was me didn't you? You're so funny dipshit, I guess you like beating up old people now!"

She looked at the man once again who gave her a smile and a shrug, "I'm sorry, I must have startled you dear, I really should get over that habit, I'll make sure to stand in front of you when addressing you next time, startling people, it happens more than I'd like" the old man said, shaking his head as he couldn't believe he had just scared the girl.

Sunnora barely managed to hear anything the old man had to say, all she could hear was Hidan's mocking laughter, his face stretched in that huge grin at her humiliation, the way his breath would hitch slightly at the end and then continue with his laugh, her embarrassment was his amusement and she hated every second of it. She unclenched her grip from the old man's cloak and sprinted in the direction of the laughing man.

Her anger was uncontrollable, there were many things that she deemed forgivable, she wasn't always as coldhearted as she appeared and gave way to understanding the situation, as much as the idea seemed farfetched she saw it that way in her mind, but the only thing that she considered utterly inexcusable was being laughed at, being humiliated was bad enough but adding laughter to it only made things worse, it hurt her pride which hurt her more than any knife could. She just couldn't hold back this time, this time her anger to protect her pride fueled her forward. Maybe killing this man would ruin any chance of going back home but she didn't care…she didn't see it that way. The only thing that was even of concern to her was making that laughter stop, that taunting sound that drove stakes through her chest each and every second she had to hear it.

She reached the middle of the steps with a feral look in her eye; Hidan saw it clearly and instantly stopped laughing. It was the scariest thing he had ever seen.

'_Oh shit…' _Sunnora didn't have any time to react as her legs kept moving forward, along with her entire body.

The purple eyes widened in surprise as he saw the girl in front of him fall on her face as she had reached the second to last step.

Hidan stood there gaping at the scene.

"Oh my! Dear are you okay? Please get up!" Masa rushed down the steps as fast as he could and crouched down next to her. "I really need to get these stairs repaired, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry!"

Hidan couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Howls of laughter were heard all over town as Hidan fell to the floor with laughter, he was beyond holding back the tears that came streaming down his face as he recalled everything in his mind. Spectators from around the corner came by to see what the hoot was about but didn't find it amusing at all, just some psycho laughing at the misfortune of another.

Masa threw a disapproving look at the silver haired man next to them and felt the hole at the pit of his stomach sink when he raised the girl up and saw she had some dark liquid forming around the top of her scalp where most of the impact had occurred. It was still dark out so Masa couldn't see the wound clearly but definitely could feel the deep gash and liquid pouring out.

"Y-Young man! She's injured please help!" Panicking like crazy Masa looked over to the man who was still on the floor grabbing onto his hurting stomach.

Hidan gulped in air and looked over at the two individuals on the steps. He quirked an eyebrow at the man's words and was definitely sure he was lying, _'there's no way she's hurt, she can heal she must just be clumsy'._

"Please young man, do something", tears swelled at the end of the man's eyes and Hidan shook his head at the pitiful sight before him.

'_This is just sad…'_

"Calm down gramps, she'll be just fine, let's just move her back to her room…"

'_I really don't want to even know what she was planning on doing the second before she fell'_, just the image of those eyes that were headed in his direction made a shiver work its way down his spine.

The old man nodded and got up, waiting for Hidan to grab the girl in his arms and moved aside as he took her back upstairs, he went to the downstairs bathroom to retrieve a few items that would help with the bleeding. Once upstairs Hidan laid the unconscious girl on the bed and inspected the injury. Wincing slightly when he saw the open cut he covered her up and sat next to her until the old man arrived with a few bandages and some water. He watched Masa grab a clean cloth and dip it into the water, wringing it out he placed it over the cut gathering all the dark liquid he did it again and again in the dark room until the wound was completely clean. It was completely silent except for the dripping water and handy work of the older man. Hidan couldn't really believe what had happened in just a few minutes. _'Why is she just laying there? Shouldn't she be healing already, she did that last time, when I first met her…so what's different this time?'_

* * *

Masa finished bandaging her up and excused himself from the room but not before running his hand through her hair and giving a small prayer so that she would recover soon. Hidan almost growled at the scene, he looked over quite perplexed as to what was happening.

Hidan sat by her side just thinking the whole time, he didn't know why he felt anguished by the image of the girl laying injured on the bed. He kept telling himself that she would wake up soon but the more and more that time passed the more the guilty feeling washed over him. _'She wouldn't have fallen down those stairs if I hadn't laughed at her, but how was I supposed to know that would happen'._

Feeling that the self loathing thing just wasn't his cup of tea he got up from the chair he had carried to her room and exited the vicinity but not before catching one last glance of the girl, hoping that he could see her open her eyes and smile up at him like last time.

* * *

Walking through the quiet street Hidan could see many shops were already open, people were out and about preparing for the start of their day just a little before dawn. The sky was still dark but for everyone in this town it was normal for the day to start just before dawn, to reward themselves with the beauty that was sunrise it was necessary to start the day this early. He had to clear his head, to free himself from the worry, and to plan his day. Even though things hadn't started out how he would have preferred, it didn't mean the rest of his day had to be ruined as well. Passing by a map shop he took one without regard to the owner and opened it up, taking in the 'x' mark he could see where he was, taking in every detail that he could he nodded and tossed the map back at the frowning owner. Even though he was never good with directions he knew it would take a huge idiot to get lost from this point on.

* * *

Making his way back to the inn he looked over the mountains and stopped in his tracks along with everyone else on the street. The bright orange light cascaded over the sky as it drove away all darkness from view. It truly was a mesmerizing sight that even Hidan couldn't help but stare at the beautiful scene. Multiple heads turned away from the sunrise and onto the inn as a scream made its way to their ears. Hidan felt that anguish return and without a second of hesitation he rushed up the steps to the inn and towards the room of a certain black haired girl.

Hidan reached the top floor and shoved away many people that had stepped outside their rooms when they too had heard the screaming.

He stood outside her door and gulped down the lump in his throat before turning the knob.

* * *

Snapping open her bright blue eyes Sunnora looked up and around and noticed the unfamiliar scenery. A small lumpy bed, an uncomfortable looking wooden chair by the bed, a desk adorning the wall as the only décor with a few items on top and a solitary window that out looked the outside street. Looking down slightly she caught a shade of dark black below her face and realized it was the mask that hung around her neck, pulling it down again she sighed with relief.

'_I don't even remember putting it back on'. _

She winced when she tried to move her body and gave up, her head snapped up when she felt the rush of air hit her face as the door to the room that was only a few inches from her face was thrown open with force. Her bright blue eyes met purple and a smile made her way to her face as she recognized the figure all too well.

Hidan stood before her with a perplexed expression on his face as he wondered how she had ended up on the floor next to the door but at the same time the relief he felt overpowered all other ideas or emotions.

'_She looks just fine'_

"Hidan-sama!" Sunnora stood but almost fell back down when she tried putting her weight onto her ankle. Grabbing onto the wall she gave the male a questioning look and tried moving her ankle around only to shut her eyes in pain.

"Yeah, don't move it, you fell just a few minutes ago, remember?" Hidan shook his head at her actions and was about to help her onto the bed when he clearly remembered one of the last things she said to him a just moments ago that made his arms instinctively recoil back to his side.

"_Touch me again and you'll regret it…painfully so"_

Sunnora grabbed onto the wall for support and made her way to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

"I did?" Sunnora tried to remember doing anything of the sort but her memory only drew blanks.

'_What is Hidan-sama saying to me? Hm if I recall correctly the last thing I remember was being in the forest as we were travelling together, I do remember being sick and that's when Hidan-sama rushed off to look for water for me because I wasn't feeling well and I must have passed out-'_

Looking up she caught the male's stare and smiled warmly at him. _'He must have gotten the water for me and brought me back here to heal properly, he really is a savior". _Hidan's eyes widened when he saw the girl on the bed start crying, wiping her tears away with haste.

"Wh-What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Hidan didn't know what to do.

"No no, I'm sorry, I'm just crying because I'm happy, I'm glad that you did so much for me and I'm really sorry I've put you through so much trouble, you really are wonderful Hidan-sama", Hidan was shocked at her words, it was the first time he had heard the young girl be so honest with her feelings but he didn't know what to say or what to do so he resorted to the only thing he knew well and that was to be indifferent.

"Yeah you have been causing me a lot of trouble but I can forgive you this once, let's just go already, the sun is up so we can get going", without looking her way Hidan left the room passing people that had tried to eavesdrop onto their conversation.

Sunnora watched the man she considered her savior leave the room and nodded her approval. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to Hidan, especially now that she owed him so much.

Sucking up the pain in her ankle she left the room but not before cleaning it up the best she could and making her way downstairs.

'_One day I'll really repay you for your kindness Hidan-sama'_

* * *

Sunnora looked around downstairs and caught the glimpses of many people. Many of disapproval as they looked her up and down noting the many injuries she wore. The bandage around her head, the one around her hand, her slight limp, and the injury on her shoulder, they all indicated she was some sort of criminal. Making eye contact with a few of them she smiled and waved, "good morning m'am, sir", she bowed curtly at the pair who seemed surprised by her greeting and waved back with a small smile. _'Looks can be deceiving' _they thought before leaving the inn.

She couldn't find Hidan anywhere and decided to wait for him here. A lot of people had gathered so she figured it would be a good place to meet up with people.

Looking around she caught one pair of eyes that widened with glee.

"Ahh~ my dear you look so much better, please tell me you're okay", Masa walked out of the kitchen and stood before the young girl and awaited with a smile to hear her voice.

Sunnora didn't know who this elderly man who stood before her was but she was taken aback just by how much he cared for her well being.

"I'm feeling just fine, thank you so much for asking", she smiled genuinely at the man who almost started crying.

Sunnora let the concern of the man's expression wash over her, "W-why are you crying? Please don't cry", Sunnora cupped the man's face in her palm and was surprised when the old man hugged her.

"Y-Your smile, it truly is beautiful, it was everything my brother described, I had been doubting myself all night and earlier today about whether it really was you that had saved my brother and his farm but now I see, you really are that angel he mentioned, thank you".

Sunnora was truly shocked at the man's words, such kind feelings and emotions made her feel beyond wonderful. She quickly realized that this must be Yasu's brother, with quiet sobbing from the man she hugged him tighter and a soft purple glow covered her entire body.

* * *

Hidan came downstairs to find the girl he had found in the forest hugging the inn owner, but what caught him off guard wasn't the hug but the glow she was emitting, he raced downstairs as fast as he could and pulled the girl away from the man with such force that the old man almost tumbled over. The scary voice from earlier kept popping into his head about regretting it painfully so if he ever touched her but at the moment he didn't care, _'it's not like she's actually going to hurt me'._

Masa was awaiting the pain that would come from putting too much pressure on his leg to catch his balance but realized it didn't hurt anymore, like it was better than normal. He looked up to see the young silver haired man in front of him but the girl was nowhere in sight.

"Don't touch her you old pervert!" Hidan sneered, he couldn't explain to himself why she was glowing like that, could it be that she was healing him? But he didn't want anyone knowing of her ability, it would cause a ruckus in town and people would be constantly bothering her _'and me' _to heal their loved ones, it would be so troublesome and he knew that with her sweet demeanor she wouldn't refuse. _'I can't risk other people finding out about her healing jutsu'._

Masa caught the sight of the girl's head peeking out of the large cloak with the red cloud pattern and smirked. Looking up at Hidan he chuckled, "Don't worry young man, I was young too once, I know how jealous you boys get when your girl hugs others but don't worry, you don't have to feel threatened by me, I'm way too old to deal with that kind of stuff".

Hidan faltered when he heard the man's false assumption, "N-No it's not like that you old man! We're just-"

Masa smiled at the stuttering mess of a man in front of him, "No need to explain yourself to me, your girlfriend is really sweet and special you better take good care of her, don't let me interrupt", and with that the old man walked away but not before handing Sunnora a packed breakfast, leaving the pair standing in the now empty inn lobby.

Sunnora smiled at the old man saying her thanks as he walked away, she pulled her head out of the opening on the top part of the oversized cloak that showed much of the silver haired male's chest. "Hidan-sama what's a girlfriend?"

Hidan shook his head and looked everywhere except at the girl in front of him, their faces almost touching. "Umm it's an annoying girl that won't leave you alone". Sunnora tried to comprehend the word and smiled, "Oh okay!" she said happily. Hidan hadn't thought this through fully as many people entering the lobby observed the duo with disapproving glances, some of them covering their children's eyes as they passed.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? It's not like we're doing anything!" Hidan yelled at the onlookers, many frowning women covered their children's ears and hurried their pace along.

Sunnora kept smiling up at him and felt a bit surprised when the man opened his cloak and pushed her out from inside of it, she missed the warmth but didn't say anything. She was about to question him about the whole incident as to why he had pulled her away from Masa when she saw red cover the middle portion of Hidan's face.

"Is something the matter Hidan-sama? Your face is all red", she tried scooting closer to the male who was now looking around at all the people looking at them, _'those bastards, they're all getting the wrong idea, they think we're-'._

Hidan felt the light touch of the girl's hand grace his cheek. "Ah! You're burning up"

"Ah look at them, they're so cute!"

Hidan felt the blush on his face intensify as he overhead a young couple walk past them and giggle.

"We are leaving let's go!" Hidan said storming off from the sight of the inn, never wanting to come back to this horrid place again in his life.

Covering his face from all the people that kept staring he looked behind and saw the clueless girl was still standing there, not moving an inch after him as some random guy came up and started talking to her.

As much as he hated what ideas would pop into people's heads he walked back and grabbed the girl's hand as she squealed at the sudden force he used to grip onto her hand, but not before giving the guy a menacing look that had him turning around and running away.

Sunnora was oblivious to everything that was going on around her as they walked from the inn together hand in hand. Hidan finally let go of the grip around the girl's hand with reluctance as he overheard some teenage girl complain to her boyfriend "AH! Shu-kun why can't you get all jealous like that!?"

Hidan bowed his head to hide his blushing expression as he made his exit to the woods away from the dreadful town.

'_This just isn't my day'_

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**lol yep...poor Hidan...**

**Review Review! (: It will make me update much faster after all ;)**


	20. The Search Commences

**Doosey of a chapter to write, felt that the ties of the plot had to tie together so this is where that all happens xD**

**Anyways hope you enjoy this one and will update next week with something better ;)**

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. **

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**Chapter 20: The Search Commences **

With his head still bowed, Hidan made him way out of the town with the chipper young girl in tow. The scenery descended from the loud fast paced crowd to the more familiar aura of nature. The breeze was steady as it welcomed autumn and the trees were beginning to lose their vibrant green hue to make way for the more accepted colors of orange and red. The sun was beginning to warm the land and the cold chilly air was pushed away to invite people with its surroundings. With little sound surrounding the pair, they trailed away with a certain silver haired male's mind still elsewhere. His hurried footsteps still a tad too quick in the opinion of a certain blue eyed girl.

Walking briskly to catch up to the man, curiosity peeked the girl's interest as she saw Hidan's head still bowed, his reddened cheeks had now lessened in intensity, but the clear mark of the steady blush was still present on his features.

"Hidan-sama is something the matter? You've been acting strange", Sunnora was very concerned, just the idea of her savior being sick or in any harm whatsoever made her whole being unsteady. Her mind reeled with the presentation of bad situations that could happen to Hidan. Anything from him being upset with her to the most terrifying of situations made her feel queasy. _'The last thing I would ever want is for Hidan-sama to be in danger, I'd give anything to see him back to the way he was'._

The silver haired male looked to the side and furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the girl speak, the sound was inviting but from his thoughts it took him longer to register them in his head, _'did she say I was acting strange?…she's one to talk'_

Hidan saw the worrisome expression on the flawless young face and sighed, he knew the way he was delaying his response and behaving would seem strange to anyone but himself but nothing to get upset about, mostly after what happened at the inn.

Hidan shook his head from his silly behavior and once again looked forward with renewed confidence wiping away any signs of the red tint on his face. "Nothing is wrong with me, I just hate when people assume what's not true".

Sunnora nodded and accepted the response, the way he said it made her whole body tingle with the reassurance that he was indeed back to normal. From the way he slowed his pace with confident strides, to the way his shoulders relaxed and chin was lifted high above to show the smug self-assured smirk on the handsome face, it was entirely him and anything other than that just wouldn't be recognizable in her eyes.

Looking away from him she refocused on the road ahead, she didn't really know much about what Hidan was doing or where he was heading, everything about this little trip he had arranged was all unknown to her but she decided that whatever it was she was going to help him accomplish it. It was the least she could do.

* * *

"How is he doing?" Yamato opened the wooden door to the cabin and let in the bright rays of sunlight into the otherwise dark gloomy cabin. His face was wary and the solemn looks from Ino and Choji didn't help relieve that in the slightest. Walking over to the silent pair he witnessed firsthand the state hadn't changed at all from the time he had left but his hopes weren't high in the first place. Shikamaru had been unconscious now for about six hours and his condition hadn't faltered in the slightest, which he wasn't sure to take as a good thing or a bad thing.

Ino looked away from Shikamaru at the man that had just entered the cabin and was now standing by her side. "He needs to wake up soon, the more information he can tell us the more we can cooperate and catch that criminal, Kakashi and Gai's team are all counting on us and we can't let them down". She knew the information Shikamaru held was of importance but right now her main concern was his well-being They had all been together for a long time and now that Asuma was gone she just couldn't fathom the loss of another member. The idea brought slight tears to her eyes and she had to look away facing the opposite wall so her team wouldn't see her in such a weak state.

Choji also had the same train of thought as his blonde counterpart but he kept his tears at bay. All three of them were utterly confused as to why Shikamaru of all people would stray away from the intended mission to go after this girl by himself. It had to be something that really got to him for him to do something like that; he always had a plan, a backup plan for that plan, and then another one after that one. Ino spoke breaking the silence. "Yamato-sensei, I hope you can explain what happened to Tsunade-sama, she was expecting us to be in direct order for the other mission after-all".

Yamato knew the idea of relinquishing their posts as shinobi weighted heavily on these kid's shoulders and he also knew the direct order of Tsunade-sama. Her words were engraved into his skull and he sighed. He wasn't sure just how this whole ordeal would play out but he hoped that Tsunade would see reason and pardon the team from their failed mission.

* * *

"She must have gone through here right?" Sakura trailed behind Kakashi and Gai as the rest of the team did. They strode along the main path in search of the girl in black.

"I'm sorry everyone, I don't know what happened, one second I had her pinpointed like a target and the next it was as if she had vanished into thin air, her whole presence was gone, even with that scent you gave me I wouldn't be able to track a thing", Pakkun hung his head down as he was facing the teenagers on Kakashi's back. He couldn't understand what was going on, even if she had hidden under the earth he would still have some trace of her somehow but now, it was as if she had become a whole different person, it unnerved him greatly as much as it did everyone else on that mission.

"Looks like we're just going to have to search for her the old fashion way then, at least we can still use Byakugan right Neji?" Tenten spoke as she walked beside her team mates.

Neji's stoic expression didn't falter as he continued looking straight ahead. He had surveillance the area multiple times in search of any trace the girl had left behind but up until now he had gotten absolutely nothing. He couldn't get a very good glimpse of the girl as it was night time when he fought her but he did take in the black leather like clothes, so he knew what she wore. Another thing he managed to glance at was her long dark hair, it would help him tremendously. Her face was the only thing he was really missing, he couldn't get a good look at her eyes because it really was too dark and the rest of her face had been hidden behind a mask so that wouldn't lead them anywhere either.

Tenten as well as the rest of the group noticed the slight frown that had formed on Neji's face and their moral dropped slightly.

Naruto saw the poignant expression on some of his team's facial façade and groaned. Lifting his arms over his head and placing them crossed over one another behind his back as he leaned his head onto them with confident strides he spoke, "Byakugan or not, I'm going to find this girl and take her to Konoha, what she did to those kids and to Shikamaru is unacceptable and we're all going to make sure she gets what she deserves!".

With renewed confidence and small smiles they made their way through the woods on the single path that seemed to stretch on forever.

Some looked fatigued just staring at the never ending road until bright young eyes snapped open in delight when they saw a sign ahead.

'**You are now entering End Valley'**

* * *

"Don't look so down Konohamaru-kun! He'll be back soon and you can tell him what happened", Moegi looked at the depressed expression on her best friend's face. He had head from Ebisu that Naruto had left just moments ago before he found him in the training fields to a mission assigned to him and the rest of his team. The blonde was now outside Konoha and Konohamaru didn't know what to do. He sat in class as Iruka rambled on about chakra control; he looked down and noticed that the group that had come late yesterday was now nowhere to be seen. He wasn't surprised though as he was positive that if any of his friends had faced that danger he would also skip class to be by their bedside until he was 100% sure they were fully recovered. Now he just had that dilemma about the situation that was presented to them by coincidence weighing heavily on his shoulders. It was probable that someone had already been sent out on this certain mission but Konohamaru wasn't sure and an idea popped into his head that had his two best friends looking at him in surprise. They both looked at each other with that 'we're going to have to do something again' look. With a grin in place the young genin relaxed in his chair and let the words of Iruka's lesson sink in, leaving Moegi and Udon very worried.

* * *

Tsunade sunk in her chair for the fifth time that day as she looked up at the pile of paperwork plastered on her desk, she just couldn't figure out why so much paperwork had to be dealt, especially by her, she was the Hokage after all, not some office lady that had to be stuck behind a desk all day. _'I really wasn't expecting this when I signed up' _she thought before sighing and with reluctance reached out and grabbed the first file. Glancing over the text she was about to write something on the bottom of the page but furrowed her brows as she noticed she had no clue as to what she had just read. Pushing the paper away she knew her mind was elsewhere, and getting any work done now was out of the question.

Concern and anguish washed over her like rain as she was sure that by now the three teams she sent out the day before would be back with news any kind of news would relieve her thoughts. Yet they were still away and she really didn't have the personnel under her belt to send out anyone else, it would be irresponsible and she knew it, missions were piling up like the paperwork on her desk and Shizune would seen be here to demand some of it so she could file it. Groaning out loud she sat up straight in her chair for the sixth time that day and began to read over the text that was presented in the mundane fashion as were the rest of the papers that were piled up.

* * *

"Did you go see him today?" Kenta asked the girl walking next to him and she headed home for the day. His question wasn't needed for the look the girl carried was enough of an answer. Her eyes were sunken in and carried the burden of dark lines under them, as if she hadn't slept for a year. Her downturned lips also gave her away as unpleasant to the passing eye but he knew the reason for her state.

After a moment of stillness, the sound of moving feet was muffled as the quiet tone of Mayomi's voice broke the pattern. "Yeah, I did, and nothing has changed, the doctors refuse to let me see him, they say what he has could be dangerous…I don't know what it is though, it's not like has some sort of disease", the word carried poison on Mayomi's tongue as her downturned frown turned into distaste.

"Same here, I tried going this morning but they pushed me away as well and told me to go back to the Academy, it's ridiculous how they won't let us see him, he's our friend and we want to know he's alright". Kenta hadn't really spoken much to the girl before. He was always around her when Katsuro was also around but just the two by themselves without the arrogant boy was unheard of. She was pretty and Kenta knew that that was one of the reasons Katsuro liked her so much but another thing that he knew drew him in was her concern. She was devoted to her friends and when they were ill she was ill, when they were glad she was glad, and when they were dying it looked like she was to die as well. Kenta frowned at that thought pattern and brushed it off, there was no way Katsuro would die. The medical shinobi from Konoha were one of the best, and with Tsunade on their side there was nothing they couldn't heal. Turning back to the brown haired girl he spoke up once again, freeing her from her deep thoughts.

"So have you seen Hisao?" it was true that he didn't know the boy much. All he knew was that he had a record for doing a couple of stupid things around Konoha, but that was expected with the amount of surveillance his mother had over him, she smothered him sometimes when he arrived home late and would baby him too much. Kenta saw the rebellion as a way Hisao escaped the clutches of his mother. When Kenta first met Hisao, it was through Katsuro as well. In truth, they had all met in some way through Katsuro, he was the glue that held them all together and without him now, they all felt the side effects of slowly peeling off of one another. It seemed that Nori and Juroi were once again fending for themselves apart from the group. The siblings had the lowest scores in the class for their target skills and received negative comments all the time from their peers, yet Katsuro at one point had stood up for them and allowed the two to join them for practice one afternoon. After that they were welcome to target practice every day with the group. Now that he was out, it was back to square one, for their skills that day at the academy had lacked control and a throw that could have easily landed had bounced off causing laughter and mocking from most of the class. Iruka had let the grade curve at the idea that it was because Katsuro was at the hospital but told them upfront that he wasn't going to be doing this often and they should practice even harder.

"No, I haven't seen him but he's probably out in the streets causing trouble again, and to tell you the truth Kenta-kun, I don't want to see him ever again", the words were harsh on her tongue and he knew that she must be extremely angry to saw them in the first place.

"Mayomi-san, what happened wasn't his fault, are you blaming him for what happened?" the look that was passed to him was of desperation and sorrow, enough to strike desolation in the young boy's heart and mind. Her fingers clenched and unclenched into fists and for the first time she let the emotions rush to her face. Grief washed over her and she stopped walking to hold onto herself for support, Kenta wasn't sure whether he should reach out to her but stayed back, he didn't want her to snap at him like she had done the day before with Iruka.

"I know! I know it wasn't his fault but I feel that if Hisao-san hadn't pulled out his katana and had that stupid match with Katsuro-kun then none of this would have happened! We could have been out right now enjoying the day, all six of us! It might come off as greed or whatever you want to call it but I say it's more than such a shallow emotion. It's longing…" she cleared her throat and bowed her head. Kenta was speechless, he knew that in desperation Mayomi had the habit of snapping on people but he didn't feel prepared to respond to her words. It was true, he also felt lonely now that Katsuro wasn't around but it wasn't as if the world had ended, and he didn't see how it was greedy to want the six of them to be together again.

"Don't worry Mayomi-san, why don't we go look for Hisao-san together? It's not the six of us just yet but we'll get there, little by little we can add on until we get the final piece, and that will be when Katsuro is released from the hospital, after that we can all go to target practice, I'm pretty Katsuro would enjoy that after being in that stuffy room all day, you know how much he loathes being enclosed", with a smile lacing his lips, Kenta looked over to read any sign of a response on the girl's face. He found one that he wasn't expecting.

With a hint of joy washing over her face she hid her trail of hope behind tired eyes and moved forward, the path to Hisao's house. Little by little, they would surely get their puzzle completed.

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**Lot of Hidan/Sunnora next chapter with some teamwork!**


	21. The Suspicion

**Just Hidan/Sunnora for this chapter (: poor Hidan, he's just a clueless guy xD** **Chapter 22 will go back to Konoha Forces! **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

**Rated M for Language**

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**Chapter 21: The Suspicion**

With matching strides, the young blue eyed goddess trailed alongside Hidan. The pair hadn't shared words the whole morning and although the only sounds were coated in nature it didn't seem to bother them in the slightest. The comfortable sounds of the woods were welcomed after the fast paced bustle of the town they had recently left behind.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question Hidan-sama?" Sunnora didn't know much about Hidan's plans or his goals and even if he didn't wish to share the information it was still a step forward to hear his voice and share his words with her, she wasn't expecting much but even a little would go a long way in her opinion.

Hidan motioned his head to the side, looking at the girl from his peripheral line, "I guess I don't mind, go ahead but you know the rule, just because you ask doesn't mean I'll answer".

Sunnora's face brightened even more at his words and she instantly picked up her pace so that she was ahead of the male and faced him so she walked in front of him in a backwards manner. The slight surprise washed over his face at her playful actions but he dismissed it when she began to speak.

"Where are we going?" it had been in the back of her mind all this time, and with little words shared between them it seems that now she had the amount of time to sort them out, her mind reaching to the very back to bring forth that question.

Hidan seemed hesitant with his answer, and even if he was inclined to answer he never showed it. His pace never faltered and his face regarded her with nonchalance. With a gentle upwards tug of his lips he sighed and motioned forward with his left arm.

"We're going to pass one more town before we reach our destination, the town is up ahead, another few minutes of walking and we should see something that registers life, after that it will be at least two more hours before we get to where I need to be".

Sunnora's eyes glistened as she motioned for him to continue, but he didn't seem to notice so she voiced her protest, "and that will be where Hidan-sama?"

Hidan's lips tugged upwards a bit more and held a teasing quality to his voice that made Sunnora feel the light atmosphere around them increase.  
"That I won't tell you, you'll just have to wait", and with that Hidan faced forwards once again quickening his pace to sidestep Sunnora.  
She sighed as she kept walking backwards and she moved her body in 180 degrees at the turn of her heel and pouted slightly. Now they were back at square one, but at least now she knew they'd be stopping by a town soon. Spending time with Hidan was enough for Sunnora and she felt content being next to him, even if he had told her before that she was just there to temporarily fill in for Kakuzu, his lost partner, the thought of not being around him didn't even enter her mind once because she didn't even see the possibility of that happening. She thought when Kakuzu came back they could all be in the same team, the three of them together. Smiling at the thought she skipped alongside Hidan until she was by his side one more time.  
"So what are you so happy about?" Hidan questioned as he saw the huge smile plastered on his lackey's face.

Sunnora hummed and turned to Hidan, closing her eyes in amusement, "oh nothing~ just wanted to know about your partner, you know, the one that's gone missing".

Hidan grimaced and turned away once more. Even though he swore that he hated Kakuzu, he had to admit to himself that he was fun to make fun at. From his age to his bad habits, they were all things Hidan found humorous in pointing out.

"He was some old bastard, have to admit he was pretty useful to keep around because of his threading technique but other than that he was kind of a drag to be around, a really greedy fucker he was, your healing jutsu is so much better than his technique I have to admit", Hidan grimaced at the compliment that slipped out, he meant it but didn't want her to know what he thought, 'she might think I actually like her'. He felt better about his slip up when he looked at her and noticed she just smiled and hummed as if accepting his answer and trying to form an image of Kakuzu in her head from the description he gave her of him.

One thing Hidan always enjoyed when traveling with Kakuzu was making fun of him. Finding imperfections and weaknesses was Hidan's strength, and he relished in the though of doing the same with the girl beside him. It came easily to him to make fun and surely with someone as clueless as she was it would be easy. He remembered making fun of Kakuzu's physical state at first, and once he knew more about the guy as they did missions together, is that he carried his practice into mental and emotional states, such as his strong tendency to collect money and easy irritation. Sure Hidan knew it annoyed him but what was he going to do about it, kill him?

The idea brought a grin to his face as he motioned his purple eyes to the side and saw his prey. The girl was smiling slightly, _'that stupid smile never seems to leave her face, but I'll make sure she gets upset when I make enough fun of her'_ grinning like a mad man Hidan turned his head to look at her. She seemed to notice his stare and turned her head to look at him, catching his eyes in hers she smiled at him with one of her famous smiles that would make any other male melt but he wasn't going to fall for that, nothing came before his religion and his twisted humor.

Looking at her he didn't seem to notice anything that really stood out enough to make fun of, she was tall but not excessively tall to call her a giraffe, she wore all black which was strange for girls her age but he couldn't think of anything to make fun of with only that, her hair was meticulously straight and shiny with layered qualities that actually complimented her, it looked like she combed it every second of the day so he couldn't call her out on that, her face and complexion were flawless that he felt himself flush a little when noticing just how pretty she actually was, groaning out loud he gave up on her physical weaknesses to focus on her more obvious mental weaknesses.

Pushing back some strands of silver hair Hidan needed information for this tactic to work, he didn't have the time he had with Kakuzu to push, so he needed to be rash and ask her straight up for things to aid in his mockery and her humiliation. With determination in his voice he looked to the side with a fake smile in place, "so dipshit, where are you from again?"

Sunnora seemed legitimately surprised by his question and formed a small o with her mouth before the question actually sunk in. Placing her finger on her chin she looked to the sky as if searching for the answers and squinted, the action alone had Hidan genuinely smiling a little but shook it from his face for his more favored fake smile.

"I really wish I could answer that Hidan-sama, but I'm still pretty much hazy on those details, I do recall it being dark though".  
Hidan adopted a giant grin on his face and before realizing what he was saying he blurted out the first thing that came to his head, "is that why you look like you dress in the dark!?"

...

The silence was like a stab in the chest to Hidan and he cleared his throat to make sure his hearing hadn't disappeared.

_'What the hell was I thinking? That joke was so lame! I can't believe I said something that fucking stupid, I'm losing it I swear-'_

Looking over he felt confusion wash over him as he saw the girl's head bowed slightly and her hands cupped her face.

_'Oh shit I made her cry!'_ Hidan's hand reached out to touch her shoulder and he opened his mouth to say something but words evacuated his mind completely. Furrowing his eyebrows he felt the girl tremble before him and sighed, _'this is why I can't have a girl as my partner'._

Feeling the trembling of her shoulder get slightly more intense he felt like he needed to say something, anything to make her stop crying. Sure he had faced women cry before but that was only a second before they were about to be sacrificed to Jashin-sama, this was different, he felt like he was driving a metaphorical stake through this girl's heart.

"I-I…", Hidan cursed at himself for not being able to say one simple word, and even though he didn't mean it, he still felt a bit obligated,_ 'maybe that's the reason I can't say it'_, something in his mind or his throat was forbidding him from saying it, like it was taboo to him.

Sunnora moved her head up and through wet eyes she looked up at Hidan with a smile, "I'm so sorry Hidan-sama, I couldn't hear what you said".  
Hidan seemed shocked; she hadn't been crying because she was sad, but because she was laughing…_'those are tears of laughter'._

Never had he made fun of someone to have them laugh at the joke, it usually ended with a threat or a fight, both very appealing to Hidan as it usually meant a sacrifice would be offered that day to Jashin. He shook his head and tried to comprehend what was happening. "I thought you were crying", he said as he looked away from her, he couldn't bring himself to face her just yet, he was sure his face would betray him and show emotions he wasn't used to expressing.

Sunnora giggled and swung her arms casually by her sides as they continued down the path. "No, I'm sorry if it seemed that way it's just that your joke was very funny, I tend to cry when I laugh too much, and I was already happy to begin with so that only spurred me on I suppose".  
Hidan turned his head to her with reluctance.

"Why were you happy?" he didn't understand this girl…she was too weird in his opinion, she didn't respond how she was supposed to respond, there were set rules in the human race and the fact that she wasn't following them with her bipolar behavior really caught him off-guard in multiple times.  
_'Seriously? One minute she's threatening to kill me for waking her up and the next she's practically throwing herself at me saying she worships me…I'm glad the only woman I have to be around is Konan, and at least she's normal…I think'_ Hidan scratched his head as if trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe when a slight tug of his sleeve woke him up.

"Oh, I'm always happy when I'm around you Hidan-sama, but I was just surprised when you asked where I was from, it means you're slightly interested to know more about me, the idea alone made me so happy, I'm really sorry I can't remember much because if I did I would tell you everything about my land and myself", Sunnora pouted but one glance at Hidan made her smile again, that same smile that Hidan used to loath was now becoming somewhat nice, but he shook his head as if trying to chase away the random and clearly unwanted thought from his head.

"It's not like I really wanted to know where you were from because I was interested, it was because I was bored and I don't like silence", Hidan said with a smug tone that suited him so well.

Hidan was expecting the girl alongside him to pout or cry but not giggle. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he had to say that her laugh was contagious, it almost (almost) made him smile as well but he was too confused as to her random reactions. She had a hop in her step that irritated him but accepted it as another weird trait of hers, she also had this habit of swinging her arms like a child as she walked, it would be endearing if she wasn't a teenager.

Her soft giggle subsided and she moved her arms around her face as if trying to compose herself. She locked eyes with purple pupils and stared back at the confused stare before her. "Even though you try to hide it, I think you're secretly interested in my life you just have trouble admitting it because you're not yet comfortable with those ideas".

Hidan couldn't believe the words she spoke; she looked almost serious that it scared him slightly._ 'Why would she assume I'm interested, I couldn't care less, she's just replacing Kakuzu until I find him'._

Shaking his head in denial, the silver haired male faced forward with his chin held high in the air, "I really don't think you should be speaking to me like that, I know much more than you do so don't assume things you have no idea about, as I said before, the only reason I asked you was because I was bored".

Hidan could feel her smile, even though his head was turned away from her, he could still feel that smile of amusement hitting him in the back as they walked, it burned him and if he didn't have some self control then he'd probably turn to her and pull that mask she carried around her neck over her face so he wouldn't have to see it anymore. The idea was just too tempting but he tucked it away for later.

"Okay, I guess you were just bored, but you don't have to get so defensive Hidan-sama, you know I'll like you no matter what, and I accept anything you have to say because you mean a lot to me", the words were unexpected, twice already, it had happened twice now that her words had caught him off guard and it was unsettling that he couldn't really predict her anymore. When he first met her he was sure he had her pegged to the T, she was as clueless as a puppy, as kind as an angel, and as strong as a Jashinist, but now after what happened last night, he wasn't so sure about some of those details the girl he witnessed last night threatened to kill him multiple times, she had the strength that rivaled that of some of the Akatsuki, and anger that was easily ignited, those characteristics just didn't add up with the girl that stood before him._ 'Maybe something happened last night that she's not telling me'._

"You like me?" Hidan was still very confused as to what those words meant, for no one had ever spoken those words to him before.  
Sunnora nodded quickly and once again quickened her pace so that she stood before him as they walked so she could look in his eyes as she spoke, she was abnormally good at walking backwards that Hidan wondered if she had done this many times before, seeing as it was the second time in less than a few minutes he assumed yes.

"I do like you, you saved me when I woke up in that forest, you guided me and let me stay by your side, and when I was feeling ill yesterday you carried me to that inn so I could rest, you're my savior and I am indebted to you forever", her words were sincere and although she kept her smile, it was calmer, filled with honesty and emotion.

Hidan realized that what she felt for him was just deep admiration, and quickly felt relief, along with a foreign feeling of slight disappointment but he brushed it off, the last thing he needed now was any kind of romantic feelings surfacing, he was a devote Jashinist, his life and body belonged to his religion and that is what he dedicated his whole being to, not falling in love with some girl that would take all his time and seek his attention, he knew for sure that if a girl ever found out about his passion of sacrifice and his ideals then that would surely drive her away, it was to be expected but he didn't care, he wanted to live his life how he wanted it, without the moral implications brought about by some girl he met that only sought him out for certain or uncertain reasons. Even now, the girl that was walking in front of him knew nothing about his religion, sure she knew the name and his God's name but she knew nothing of the details that came along with it. He was sure if she ever found out about sacrifice and carnal killing then she would surely be disgusted and turn away from him, her admiration for him would vanish, and he would never see her again, _'mostly with that innocent aura of hers, she's way too kind to understand and accept what I am devoted to'._

"Don't tell me you like me when you barely know me dipshit", the words came off as harsh and he felt a little guilty for saying them, he had a huge urge to look her in the eyes to see what she was feeling but kept his composure and trained his eyesight to just above her head. Glancing down would be just too easy.

"One thing I know for certain is that I like what I know so far, and that's what matters, we're partners now and I'll find new things about you with time but for now I feel like you and I can share things with each other, well you more than I because I don't really remember much of anything, but I do plan on opening you up like a present, finding things inside that I might like or might not like but right now the 'not like' is highly improbable seeing as I like you just as you are, with the way things are now, I feel as though I can accept you for who you are and you shouldn't be afraid to show me any side of you".

Hidan smirked, he really underestimated the girl and now he was seeing there was more to her than just healing jutsu, she actually had some deep thoughts when she tried, "You're so weird you know? And to clear one thing up, we're not partners, you're my lackey dipshit".

Sunnora grinned and stepped quickly to the side to walk alongside Hidan once more, "Aye aye Hidan-sama".

_'Let's put her fondness of me to the test, I might take her to a sacrifice run when we reach the town ahead, just to see how deep her devotion lies'_

Hidan narrowed his eyes as he recalled the girl's words from earlier,_ 'She said that I took her to the inn last night when she was feeling ill but I didn't-'_  
"Oi, dipshit, tell me what you remember of yesterday, any little detail is to be included", Hidan felt like things were right in the world again, well as right as being an S-class criminal travelling with some weird girl he found in the woods would be.

Sunnora felt a bit hesitant on answering that question, not because she didn't want to but because she felt that her answer would lack in information, no matter how you looked at it. Scratching her arm in a sheepish manner, she looked up at the sky again and sighed, "I'm sorry to say Hidan-sama that I don't really recall much of anything that happened last night, the last thing I clearly remember was leaning up against the tree you placed me under while you told me you were going to fetch me some water, I remember calling out to you but you were gone, a second later I assume I passed out because that's the last thing I can think of that happened. After that my memory begins with you walking in through my inn room".

Hidan scoffed at her answer,_ 'she's withholding information, I guess she doesn't want to recall how badly she treated me that night, or how horrible her attitude was, she did wake up startled after all; she had no clue that was me last night so she let her guard down, maybe that's her deal, she's just grouchy at night and doesn't want me to reminisce upon her flaws, trying to seem perfect and perky the whole time, and she's telling me to not hide any sides from her because she'll accept me no matter what…what a hypocrite'._

"You know you don't have to hide things from me, I think you want to appear a certain way but I've seen it all I swear, I'm with the Akatsuki and all those guys are complete nut jobs, I've seen it all and much worse, trust me, just because you get a little cranky at night doesn't mean that I'll stop having you as my lackey, in truth I really prefer that side of yours, I've always enjoyed being around those type of people, it amuses me".

Sunnora was stunned silent. She didn't know what to make of his response,_ 'why is he saying I was cranky? I don't know what he's talking about…could it be that I said or did something while I was unconscious that led him to believe that of me?'_ perplexed and confused Sunnora looked at her feet as she bowed her head and spoke in a softer tone.

"Please tell me what I did last night Hidan-sama".

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**Please Review! I'll update so much faster if you do (;**


	22. The Trail Begins

**Rated M for language. **

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**Chapter 22: The Trail Begins**

_"You know you don't have to hide things from me, I think you want to appear a certain way but I've seen it all I swear, I'm with the Akatsuki and all those guys are complete nut jobs, trust me, just because you get a little cranky at night won't mean that I'll stop having you as my lackey, in truth I really prefer that side of yours, I've always enjoyed being around those type of people".  
Sunnora was stunned silent. She didn't know what to make of his response, 'why is he saying I was cranky? I don't know what he's talking about…could it be that I said or did something while I was unconscious that led him to believe that of me?' perplexed and confused Sunnora looked at her feet as she bowed her head and spoke in a softer tone.  
"Please tell me what I did last night Hidan-sama"._

Hidan chuckled at her request and picked up his pace. The journey had been quite long already and the signs of civilization were starting to show. From fewer trees to larger amounts of people passing by, they were indications of the next small town coming up ahead. He was about to dismiss her words when the nagging sound of his stomach interrupted him.

Sunnora quirked an eyebrow and giggled at the sound, Hidan wasn't sure why she was laughing but shoved her playfully to the side in an attempt to make her stop. She could sense the male's questioning gesture and added a hop to her step.

"What was that sound just now? I'm pretty sure it came from you", her expression was light and full of amusement and Hidan couldn't help but feel the air around them also lighten.

"Haven't you heard of a stomach growl before? It means I'm hungry...genius".  
It was true that he hadn't had much to eat since, _'well since I was dug out of that hole...I haven't had a proper meal now that I recall, I've been too preoccupied I guess, and my immortality must be the reason I'm just now starting to feel the side-effects of starvation'._

Sunnora stuck her arm out to stop Hidan's movement which earned her a deep scowl from the silver haired man. "What do you think you're doing dipshit?".

She didn't say anything as she opted for placing her other arm out, Hidan noticed she was carrying a small paper bag, if he remembered correctly it was given to her by that old man at the inn.

"I think this could help you Hidan-sama, please take it", Hidan nodded with a bit of hesitation but took the bag anyway. Inside he noticed a rare steak, it looked really good and his mouth watered at the smell that surrounded him, he had to admit that the old man could cook, he even considered going back just to get more of these steaks but decided the cons outweighed the pros...'_all those judgmental fuckers'._

Without another second of hesitation Hidan dug into the steak, his teeth meeting the soft tender meat that almost dissolved in his mouth. He considered it something worth waiting for, he presumed he would have ruined the experience if he had gotten anything in the town while he had gone out.

He was almost done with the meal when he looked over and noticed the girl beside him was watching him intently. Another frown replaced the awestruck expression on his face and swallowed before speaking, "why are you looking at me like that dipshit? It's like you've never seen anyone eat before. Don't tell me you want some now because you gave up that possibility when you handed that paper bag over to me, don't think I'll feel bad because I won't...I was literally starving".

Sunnora didn't say a thing, she just kept on watching intently as Hidan continued eating. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her eat anything either. Sharing was something that never really entered his mind and the little voice inside his head was ignored.  
"Starving? What is that?" Sunnora voiced the small question that had been growing in her mind.  
Hidan felt the start of what felt like mild irritation. He was sure she was making fun of him or doing this on purpose. Whatever it was, he didn't like it, if she was trying to be sarcastic she wasn't doing a very good job.  
"If you're upset that I didn't share that's your problem, you shouldn't have offered your food in the first place".  
"Are you happy?"  
The question threw Hidan off, it wasn't like it was anything new, she always had the habit of saying things out of the blue that didn't quite register.  
"What? Why are you asking me that?"  
Sunnora looked ahead onto the oncoming scenery and paused before the slight tug of a smile showed on her face.  
"I just want to know if you're happy, the way you feel means a lot to me and if anything is bothering you, you know you can tell me, I'm really not happy at all if you're not happy".

Even though Hidan was horrible at noticing small details or reading people's attitude it was surprising to himself that he had in fact noticed. Even though she acted all giddy and positive all the time he had noticed that she was always less enthusiastic whenever he was upset, but that was normal, wasn't it? He shrugged and let out a sigh..._'I never had to deal with all this shit with Kakuzu, he actually just let me talk the whole time while threatening to kill me once in a while'_, the nagging little voice also told him that he also hadn't started to feel strange feelings for Kakuzu as he had for the girl beside him, _'but that's only because Kakuzu can take care of himself, he's a grown ass man...but this girl...this girl is hopeless, she can't do anything by herself, that's why I worry'_. Shaking his head from the unwanted thought he reasoned that she was weak and too naive for her own good, a person like that wouldn't last one minute in the Akatsuki. He figured that just one mission from Pein would have her running away crying like the weak little girl that she was. Hidan shifted his eyes to the side and caught a glimpse of the girl who was still staring ahead, the bright sunlight never once bothering her as they walked towards it.

"I don't know what you mean really, but I'm going to be honest with you like I like to be, and that is that you barely know me so you can't go around saying shit like, 'oh Hidan if you're happy then I'm happy' mushy shit like that pisses me off, I'm not your boyfriend, your brother or whatever you see me as because it's just plain fucking weird and I don't like it". He felt so much better after saying that and he knew he had to say it, otherwise he would keep getting those distracting thoughts that seemed to plague him from time to time when she spoke to him like that. He knew he couldn't get too attached because eventually he knew for sure that she would run away, frightened off by the others in the Akatsuki, they were all a bunch of freaks after all_ 'especially Kisame'._

She would get scared off by his way of speaking to her, or by his religion. Someone as gentle and innocent as she was had no right to be with a bunch of S-class criminals, it didn't make sense and she didn't really know him for who he really was. He knew that she only say him as the guy (or head) that was there when she first woke up with that amnesia she was suffering from and saw him as someone she had to depend on, like a baby bird, sooner or later she would realize who she was and leave him behind, someone with a healing ability like the one she had couldn't possibly be a nobody, he knew that she was being missed somewhere and when her memories returned so would her sanity. Even now, he was surprised she had lasted this long by his side, he was sure that she, along with any other girl her age with her demeanor, would have been long gone, not wanting to deal with everything that came with him. She was just so strange. He could picture it now, he could see her tear soaked face as she realizes who she's been admiring and idolizing all this time before she leaves to go back home to gentle people like her. He knew getting close to her would end up ruining them both in the end.

Sunnora didn't seem upset by his rude remark, she just smiled a bit larger which to Hidan usually meant that something mean was about to be said, be he had managed to adapt and realize that things that usually happened didn't always happen when dealing with the girl in black.

"Why are you smiling? Aren't you upset?" Hidan questioned her.

Sunnora's eyes danced with amusement and stretched her arms out in a playful manner that coincided with her expression. "Now why would I be upset? I'm smiling because I can feel that you're feeling better, my worry had completely washed away, plus I'm with you, I could never be upset when I'm by your side".  
Hidan scoffed at her pretentious assumption, _'she can feel I'm feeling better? What is up with that bullshit line? Didn't I just say something mean to her a second ago? She should be upset, yet she's just grinning like a mental case'_. But she was right, he was feeling better.  
"How can you tell I'm feeling better from what I said earlier?"  
Sunnora shrugged and turned her face slightly to catch his face in her sight. "I just can".  
A frown adorned the male's face, _'she would say something stupid like that'._  
"Whatever, you're so full of it". Hidan didn't seem to care as he picked up his stride leaving a confused Sunnora behind.  
"W-wait Hidan-sama, full of what?"

"Wow sugoi! Look at all this stuff Kakashi-sensei, I didn't know there was a town all the way out here", Naruto beamed as he ran in front of everyone else and took in the scenery.

The small town called End Valley consisted of about two hundred people, mostly made up of merchants and people that passed by for a rest in preparation of a longer trip. They had plenty of shops that sold everything from maps to handcrafted katanas. It was small but the street seemed crowded with people. It was now about midday and the teams were all fatigued from the lack of sleep and still sore from the damage they had received earlier that night. They had kept the slow pace of walking in a leisurely manner much to Naruto's annoyance but Lee and Gai almost started crying in protest, saying that the quick movement would surely kill them. Yamato had stayed behind with his team until Shikamaru woke up from his unconsciousness and they had all agreed that they would meet up again after he woke up, they all deduced that he would hold a treasure-trove of useful information, like he always did.

"Yes, it's called End Valley, I frequent this town quite a lot on missions for a quick stop, food and rest are things you can't take for granted when you're gone for weeks at a time".

Sakura walked forward and grabbed Naruto before he leaped into the nearby ramen shop. "Naruto! We're here on a mission remember? You can have ramen AFTER we finish it". Naruto whined but a sly grin crept onto his face that Sakura had learned to be wary of. "Only if you come with me Sakura-chan, it can be a date".

Sakura sighed and with reluctance agreed to his proposal. She knew how to take one for the team and having Naruto bounce around from shop to shop would surely slow down the mission, and that's the last thing they needed when they were already behind enough as it is. She knew that Tsunade was probably worrying about them, she figured if the mission dragged on they could always send someone back to Konoha to inform the Hokage of what they had found.

The smell of food lingered in the air, catching the attention of anyone that passed by, like a siren in the sea. Anyone else would have turned around losing all sense of responsibility to those smells but they were trained shinobi, their resolve and mind could never waiver they were prepared for everything and anything, their resolve was like no other and their attitude-

"Naruto!"

Naruto had the saddest expression painted on his face as he was dragged away from a nearby ramen shop by a very pissed off Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan it just smells too good!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and walked away from the line after line of food stands. They were halfway through the town when a voice stopped their movement.

"Kakashi-san! Gai-san!"

Everyone turned around to meet an elderly man in front of what looked like to be a homely inn.

The confused expression on both of the older male's faces washed away as they caught sight of the older man.

"Ah, Masa-san!" the older male walked their side but Kakashi and Gai caught sight of some blood on the man's pants which had both Kakashi and Gai looking at each other with concern.

Masa brushed his clothes off from the wrinkles that had gathered from sitting on his porch chair for too long which led him to notice the slight trail of dried blood on his pant leg.

"What happened Masa-san? Are you okay?" Kakashi was worried for the older man, he had known Masa for years now. Each time he was sent on a long mission he would stop by the inn to rest and had come to know Masa very well. Gai would also stay every once in a while but most of the time he came by it was to help Masa out with the inn. He said it was good training that benefited them both, from washing the upstairs windows to scrubbing the wood floors, it all added to his strength.

Masa chuckled and looked away, as if embarrassed, "Don't worry about me Kakashi-san, it was just some young hot head that stayed at my inn and didn't want to pay, we ended up roughing each other up a bit".

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms to show his disapproval, "that's hard to believe, I could never see you hurting someone else".

Masa smiled and pointed at the silver haired male with a flick of his finger, "always the clever one Kakashi-san, I guess that's true, I was never good with confrontation...seems I was the only one roughed up huh".

Gai stepped forward and looked around trying to catch the glimpse of some 'young hot head'. "Masa-san is he still here? I want to talk to his guy! No one treats you like that, wasting youth on delinquency is not what one should aim for".

Masa patted Gai on the shoulder and shook his head with a playful smile still playing on his lips, "no sorry to say Gai-san, he already left about an hour or two ago, he left with a young girl".

Tenten and Sakura scoffed, "oh so he's that type of guy huh?" Sakura said as he painted the picture of the guy in her head, sure would fit the 'hot head' image.

Masa was confused as to what she meant but quickly caught on after looking at both girl's expressions.

"Oh no no! It's not like that, don't even think of something like that! I didn't mean it in that way at all, she was the sweetest girl I have ever met, I really wish you could have met her, she had this sort of positive air around her that made you happy".

Kakashi walked forward towards the inn using his hand to lead Masa with him, "come Masa-san, let's look at that wound, if you lost that much blood then you really shouldn't be walking".

Masa grabbed Kakashi's arm before he pulled him towards the inn, "it's not necessary, I'm completely healed, the blood is completely dry, it was from last night".

"The blood may be dry Masa-san but that doesn't mean your injury is healed, if you lost that much blood it means that it will take a few weeks for it to heal, come now, don't get all stubborn on me, you know I care about your health".

Masa didn't say a thing, he just confused everyone else a bit more when he reached down and pulled his pant leg over his knee to show where the wound would have been. The skin had no signs of bruises or scars, which had them looking dumb-folded. "See? I told you, no need to worry, I think the young girl I was telling you about did something, for you see, before she left she hugged me goodbye and when I let go I didn't feel any pain in my leg anymore, I was completely healed, I didn't need to limp anymore...it was like a miracle".

Sakura turned to the group, "she must be a medical shinobi, did you see her headband Masa-san? Do you know where she's from?" she really was curious to know which village had a medical shinobi that advanced.

Masa pondered for a second then shook his head, "no, I don't think she was wearing one, but I doubt she was a shinobi...well enough rambling, what are you all doing here?"

Gai informed him that they were on a mission while Kakashi kept inspecting the area on Masa's leg where the wound should have been. It didn't make sense, no matter how skilled you are as a medical ninja, there's no way the skin would have cleared up instantly and completely like that there would still be some slight scarring, it was ridiculous. Either she healed him like Masa said she did, or he never got hurt and only thought he did, with the blood coming from something else, the second option just made much more sense, especially with his age.

Neji stepped forward after Gai had finished speaking, "Masa-san, it seems the criminal we are after was headed in this direction after escaping from us, we would appreciate it greatly if you would help us out and tell us if you have seen her, any lead would help us greatly".

Masa nodded and smiled kindly at the whole group of teenagers, "Of course I would help you all out if I can, anything for Kakashi-san's and Gai-san's teams".

Gai gave him a thumbs up and an award winning smile.

"Thank you, let's see", Neji recollected his thoughts and paired them up with the description of the girl that he had on the scroll, all of them coincided with each other so there was no doubt that they were the same girl, she had tried to kill them after all, it was a clue on it's own. "She looked to be our age with long black hair, she was wearing all black, black top with sleeves, black skirt, and black boots. She was wearing something silver over her naval, looked like jewelry but I could be mistaken, she als-" Neji stopped talking and looked up at Masa that had let out a gasp.

He had lost the smile that he wore and almost looked like he was in pain, Neji was about to step forward when awkward laughter filled the space around them.  
Masa started laughing with the pained expression still present on his face, whatever he was thinking wasn't healthy for him. Looking up at the confused faces of all the teenagers he paused and fanned his face with his hand, "I'm sorry for that, it's just, well, your description of this girl, it- it..".

Neji frowned and stood closer to Masa who almost looked like he was having a heart attack. "Masa-san, please, if you know anything you have to let us know, she almost killed a child the night before, she's very dangerous and we need to capture her before she attempts murder again, if she was willing to attack helpless children then we don't know the extent to which she'll go for her own sadistic pleasure".

Masa didn't seem relieved by the words, they just helped to distress him even further. "It just can't be- are you sure the description fits perfectly?"

Neji nodded and handed the scroll over to Masa who took it in trembling hands, "this is the description given to us by the Hokage herself, it was a first hand witness description, and we saw her ourselves as she tried killing one of our own and then us at a later time, the descriptions fits perfectly, there's no denying it".

Masa felt torn, he didn't know what to believe. The girl he had come to know was like an angel, helping not only his brother with his farm but him as well, he would never in a million and one years believe that she had attempted murder, it was ludicrous. Yet the facts stood before him, these kids would have no reason to lie to him, he trusted the shinobi in the Land of Fire, they had helped him countless times, and they weren't just any shinobi, they were Kakashi and Gai's teams. He really couldn't find two more trustworthy people on earth. So why this?

Masa stopped shaking and brought his head up high with reassurance, his mind was made up. "I will tell you what I know, but first I need you all to promise me that you'll hear me out, that you'll hear out what I have to say before you start assuming everything on your own, do we have a deal?"

Neji along with everyone else shook their heads with agreement and waited for Masa to speak.

Without a trace of a smile on his lips, Masa motioned for the group to follow him, "come, we can't stand around on the street, it's noisy and distracting, come with me to the lobby we can talk there, it's almost the afternoon so everyone should be out working or shopping so it will be peaceful".

Walking up a few stairs they made their way inside the inn, the decor was simple and it remained clean. The lobby was large which consisted of most of the first floor space, with only a small kitchen and dinning hall to the left and a bathroom and bedroom to the right. They all sat down and awaited for Masa to speak as he sat on one of the chairs that adorned the area. Everyone noticed that it was in fact true that they were all alone, everyone that stayed at the inn was out for the day and would return in the evening for dinner.

Closing his eyes and intertwining his fingers in a lazy manner, Masa began to speak, "Brown haired boy...", he trailed off awaiting a name.

Neji scowled at the way he was addressed, "Hyuuga Neji".

"Neji-kun, your description of that girl was in fact seen around this area-"  
Naruto yelled at the news and stood up with a jump, "that's great Masa-san! Let us know where she went so we can capture her!"

Masa frowned at the hyperactive boy and sighed as a girl with pink hair grabbed Naruto's shirt and yanked him back down.

"Sorry Masa-san, it seems Naruto here wasn't paying attention when you said we had to listen to everything you said before jumping to conclusions", Sakura laughed awkwardly as Naruto turned his face to the side showing he was displeased.

"As I was saying, I along with a few other people around town did see her, she matches the description exactly, long black hair, black outfit, black shoes, even the silver jewelry over her naval, they all match but..."

He lowered his head again as if deeply contemplating whether to continue. Everyone was very curious as to the thoughts that were going on in Masa's mind at this very second, if they were just regular civilians they would have felt too bad for Masa and angry with themselves for pushing this old man so far to the point that even his thoughts seemed to cause him harm, he looked so troubled, but they weren't just regular civilians, they were prepared for this and much worse, this was nothing compared to some of the things they had seen. They couldn't waste time coaxing the older male to speak with false promises and words dripping in sweetness. It was their job to make sure they received every piece of information on the person they were after, it come in crucial at a later time.

"but the fact that she caused you and some children from Konoha harm makes no sense at all! She would never hurt anyone! The girl I was telling you about earlier, the girl who healed me, the girl that saved my brother's farm...she would never hurt another person".

Neji sighed and looked ahead with a determined glance, nice girl or not, she was a criminal and they wouldn't hold back because of a nice thing or two she did while she was in the village, for nothing could justify almost killing a harmless child with no motive whatsoever. "Masa-san, you must have seen her injury right?"

Masa raised his head and gave the brown haired boy a confused expression asking him to continue.

"I witnessed that just before she fled from us, that she had a large gash across her palm, an injury like that would be very hard to hide even if she can heal as you say, you must have seen a trace of it or blood around her arm, she was pretty injured, we really didn't suspect she would get so far in so little time, we all assumed she would seek refuge somewhere to treat her wounds".

Masa recalled the encounter with the girl, and sure enough he did remember seeing traces of blood, the color was a bit off but he assured himself it was only that way because it was too dark to catch the red hue. He remembered helping her bandage her hand...the bloodied palm. Masa shook his head at the blunt truth, he didn't want to believe it, he held the girl in a pedestal, the image of an angel had engraved itself into his mind whenever he spoke or thought of her. He didn't know how to feel, should he feel sad? Betrayed? Angry? He just didn't know, but he felt it in his heart that he didn't want to hurt the girl because of something he said, all he really wanted was to protect her.

"Even if what you say is true, and she is this criminal, I can't let you hurt her", the tone in which he spoke was soft and low, would almost seem threatening if they didn't know the man.

Naruto jumped up from his seat again and walked to Masa who looked highly distressed, "don't worry gramps, when we catch this girl we promise to bring her back here so you can clear everything up with her, we promise we won't hurt her".

Masa's face changed at those words, he really did want to talk to her and clear everything up, because honestly, deep in his heart he knew the girl would never betray him, not with a soul as pure as hers.

"Naruto!" Sakura scowled and stalked after him like an angry mother, "you can't make promises like that baka...", Sakura knew that if they caught the girl they would have to return to Konoha asap...they didn't have time to waste with detours so some old inn keeper could clear things up for himself, as harsh as the thought might have seem to her she knew it was true, along with everyone else...except Naruto.

"They're not false promises Sakura-chan, I absolutely promise you old man that you'll see that girl again very soon!" Sakura sighed at her partner's rash comments...only Naruto would think it's okay to say stuff like that without thinking of the consequences.

"Thank you young lad, I will feel so much better if that happened, you don't know how my heart feels right now, but with my age I better calm it down, can't die yet right", he said with a chuckle.

Gai went over and hugged the old man, almost picking him up from the ground with ease, "Hang in there Masa-san! You'll see her again we promise you!"

Lee jumped out of nowhere and also joined his sensei in the tight hug, "don't you worry one bit! You two will be reunited!"

Naruto smiled at the scene before him feeling his mission was somewhat complete.

Sakura and Tenten watched from the sidelines and sighed, they really did have idiots for team mates.

* * *

"Come again soon okay?"

"Just like promised Masa-san!" Naruto yelled out as he walked away from the inn, they all waved their goodbyes and strode along the path leading them to the other end of the small village. They had all gotten their moral back with the old man's words, reassuring them that they were in fact going in the right direction, for if she stepped through this town that meant she could only be heading in one direction.

Tenten crossed her arms and felt an exasperated sigh leave her mouth, "I still don't get it...if she's so bad and cynical, why would she help out Masa-san's brother out? And why would she heal his injury?"

Gai turned to her and smiled, "Don't worry Tenten, we will catch her soon enough so we can get back to training!"

The brown haired girl sighed..."did you even listen to a thing I said?"

Tenten turned her head as she heard the crisp cool tone of her partner's words, "All we know is what we have in the report and what we have witnessed with our own eyes, all other information is irrelevant to a degree, we can't base our mission entirely on that because we don't know how much of the information we can actually trust, so I'm basing my opinion on what I know first hand, for all we know that story about her helping in a farm and healing could all be made up by some aging man, the last thing we need is our target having some supernatural healing ability".  
They all knew that sometimes they had to hear harsh words and leave it to Neji to deliver them with ease, but he was correct, they all knew that, they couldn't put their whole mindset on second hand information. The instructions were the same...find the girl who harmed the academy student outside of Konoha...the mission hadn't changed.

"Neji-san what about the guy she was traveling with?" the question had been plaguing all their minds but until Tenten brought it up it actually took its effect. There were so many possibilities to that, but the most likely one was that he was a victim at her mercy. This 'young hot head' probably didn't know what he was getting into or was forced to go along with her. Everyone had their minds made up that no one in their right mind would follow a cynical killer like that without resisting, but that was also a frail line for they knew nothing until they could take her back to Konoha.

"Based on what our mission is, we can assume that he needs our help so we are now not only looking for this psychopath, but we are also on a rescue mission, that means the stakes are higher and our jobs gets tougher, we can't waste time for every second counts".

They all nodded and raced ahead at full speed, leaving behind End Valley.

* * *

"Ahhh~ look it's all so beautiful", Sunnora walked along the path of the village they had just entered. This was a first for the young girl, for she had never seen a civilized village before, _'it really is breathtaking'_. Sunnora could very noticeably make out the large scale differences between the town they had departed awhile ago to this large scale village that hundreds, maybe thousands, considered home. The architecture was metal based and rose high in the air. "This is nothing, we are just passing by so we won't go into the village itself".

Walking ahead her Sunnora's gaze caught the sight of something shiny and she immediately ran to it, the girl behind the counter smiled at her, "Ah miss hello, you don't seem like you're from around here, are you traveling?"

Sunnora looked up at the girl and smiled kindly matching the facial expression of the sale's girl. "Yes I'm traveling, we're on a journey".

The girl nodded and looked down at the necklace this new girl was so obviously admiring. She saw many people everyday admiring the jewelry she sold but never had she seen someone with such a joyful expression from witnessing one single necklace. "Would you like to try it on?"

Sunnora's eyes widened and she jumped a little at the question, she didn't expect to be allowed to try it on.

"Oh can I really?" the sale's girl nodded approvingly.

"Then yes please, I would love to", the girl smiled at her enthusiasm and took the necklace from behind the glass.

"Oh there you are, you can't run around like that you'll get lost, and if you keep doing that I won't come looking for you", Hidan said as he looked around the corner into the store she was standing in.

Walking further inside Hidan noticed she had walked into a jewelry store. All the pieces were very beautiful and the decor of the store only brought out the beauty of the jewels.

"I'm so sorry Hidan-sama but look at this place it's so beautiful, I couldn't help myself" Sunnora said with a giggle that melted some of Hidan's anger _'she's acting like a little kid'_. He huffed and turned to the side, "It's fine, let's just go we don't have time to waste".

Just as he was about to walk out the sale's girl stood up from behind the glass and eyed the two for a moment before speaking, "hello sir, you must be this lovely girl's boyfriend".

Hidan's head turned sharply to eye the girl that had spoken such horrible words and he could only gawk at her, _'why does everyone think we're together like that!?'_

The girl stepped from behind the counter and walked over to the pair, she held out to necklace to Hidan and placed it in his hand, "sir, wouldn't it be best for you to place this necklace around your girlfriend's neck", her tone was soft, whisper like, as if she was telling him a secret.

Hidan was about to object with a rude remark but the sale's girl kept pushing the necklace into his hand with force that made him question her true strength for such a petite young woman.

Realizing that objecting would only put a bigger strain on him he decided to take the necklace without a word. The girl giggled and stood next to Sunnora.

She grabbed Sunnora's shoulders and spun her around so she was facing away from Hidan, the young goddess was confused as to what was going on.

The sale's girl leaned forward and spoke in a quiet high pitched voice, "Ah~ your boyfriend is so handsome, I wish I had someone just like him".

Sunnora still didn't get it but turned her head slightly when she felt a pair of hands that didn't belong to the girl in front of her or her own so she assumed they were her Hidan-sama's.

One of the masculine hands went straight to the side of her face and pushed it gently to the front, "don't turn your head idiot".

The girl stood still as she felt gentle fingers brush her hair to the side over her right shoulder, her immaculate midnight black hair stayed in place over the gentle curve of her shoulder and a gold chain was brought along her front, the small flower crystal that adorned the front came in contact with her face as he lowered the jewelry over her collarbone. Sunnora now understood what was going on, he was placing the necklace on her. The act was sweet and it would be obvious to her if it hadn't been her Hidan-sama that was doing it. His touch was warm on her neck which contrasted with his sometimes cold words. She heard the click as he secured the chain around her neck and she instantly turned around and hugged the silver haired man, wrapping her arms around his neck, she had never felt so happy by a simple gesture that she felt her heartbeat race.

"Hidan-sama thank you so much for that, you are so kind!".

Hidan relaxed to the touch and closed his eyes momentarily until his eyes caught the sight of the sale's girl grinning from ear to ear at the pair hugging in front of her.

Hidan instantly stiffened at her stare and took a step back, pushing the black haired girl from him. "Don't do that you baka...you always overreact to everything, pisses me off".

The sale's girl gently pushed Hidan's shoulder and giggled, "don't be so shy sir, you should be glad that your girl finds that act of yours quite sweet".

_'My girl?!'_

Sunnora started giggling at the words, "it was really sweet, so thank you very much Hidan-sama".

The girl eyed Sunnora curiously before grabbing her shoulder's once again bringing her a step back in perfect angle.

She moved around Sunnora to stand beside Hidan who was covering his face with the sleeve of his cloak.

"Come now, don't get all shy on me, look at your girl sir, doesn't she look very beautiful, the blue and pink crystal of the flower sure brings out her eyes don't you think?"

Hidan felt curious, he really did want to see how his lackey looked in that necklace,_ 'well not because I think she'll look nice with it on but because there's a chance she'll look horrible_', even the idea of her looking bad seemed farfetched but he went with it anyway as he lowered his arm from his face. Looking up he saw the gold chain stood out in comparison to her pale skin, he knew gold was what brought out her features for silver would only blend into her complexion. The chain wasn't long and rested a good two inches below her throat, the small flower crystal was what really brought color to her beauty, the mix of baby blue and a pink pastel mixed perfectly to bring out her eyes.

Sunnora and the sale's girl were looking at Hidan curiously, awaiting a response but he didn't say a thing, he couldn't take his eyes off the beautiful image that was his lackey, he guessed in a sense he was actually looking at her for the first time. The other times he only glanced at her to insult or complain about her, and other times he was just too preoccupied, he had times that all he could think of was a way to keep her safe or too relieved when he found her, yet this time he was looking at her for the single reason that was her appearance. He really couldn't think of another time that he was stopped dead in his tracks with his mouth unable to form words...words that came so easily to him seemed to wash away like waterfall from his mind. Why was this girl affecting him this much? He didn't get it.

She was the image of perfection, her light blue eyes were watching him intently, he assumed she was waiting for him to speak but he couldn't, even if he wanted to, he couldn't. He didn't even care about the necklace anymore, it was just her, she was just so naturally beautiful, _'why did I need a necklace to help me see that? Am I just now noticing just how pretty my lackey is?'_

The sale's girl was the first to speak in the otherwise silent store, "ehh~ if you don't like it we have other ones".

Sunnora turned away from Hidan's stare and clasped the flower crystal in her grip, "oh no, I love this one too much, it was the first thing that caught my eye, it really is very pretty".

The sale's girl chuckled and crossed her arms, "yes I could tell, you were practically drooling all over my glass display". Sunnora looked mortified at the words, and brought her hands to her mouth to wipe away and drool, never once getting the fact that the girl was kidding.

The sale's girl laughed at Sunnora's antics and frowned slightly at Hidan who hadn't taken his eyes off Sunnora the whole time.

"Sir, please say something, you're starting to scare me".

Hidan frowned as he finally heard the words, "I'm fine".

The sale's girl grinned and poked his arm, "so you never answered my question, how does she look?"

Hidan turned away, no way was he looking at his lackey again, he felt he would enter that trance once again if he did '_it was like a fucking genjutsu'_. The last thing he needed was for people to get the wrong impression of them again for they were definitely not a couple...and never would be. Hidan scoffed at the sale's girl, "she looks okay".

The sale's girl frowned at the words, "eh~ okay? just okay? look look" she brought Sunnora over to stand in Hidan's line of sight but he managed to advert his gaze to the ceiling.

Tired and out of it the sale's girl marched over behind the counter and spoke in a soft tone, "I know you think she looks better than 'okay' I could see in your eyes, and you really were practically drooling, not joking this time" the girl laughed at Hidan's shocked expression and laughed harder as he turned away from the pair of girls and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"So I'm assuming you're going to take it?" she said with a gleeful tone.

Sunnora's eyes lit up at the words, she was never expecting to own something as beautiful as this, she was really just happy to be allowed to try it on.

"No no we can't", Sunnora said as she brought her arms behind her neck in an attempt to remove the necklace.

The girl's face dropped but held a gentle smile in place, "oh but why not? you looked so lovely with it on".

Sunnora blushed at the compliment, "thank you for your kind words but I really can't own something like this".

Hidan just watched from the sidelines the exchange of words. He was surprised by his lackey's words, so mature and a bit self deprecating, he felt somewhat bothered by them, 'why would she say that? Does she think she doesn't deserve something nice?'

The young goddess smiled at the girl behind the counter and handed the necklace back, "thank you very much for letting me try it on, it really is beautiful".

The girl nodded with a smile of her own and waved the pair off as they exited her store.

Hidan concluded that the exchange was weird, and it was even more weird that it bothered him to see his lackey act like that, he already knew that he wouldn't get her the necklace but the fact that she didn't even ask him because she had already made up her mind that she couldn't own it was a surprise to him.

Looking at her from the side he made out the small smile playing at her lips, it was gentle and kind. Sadness and self-loathing didn't suit her one bit.

"Where should we go next Hidan-sama?"

Hidan smirked as he went back to all business, back to the master/lackey relationship he was so comfortable with.

"No more pitstops for us, we're going straight to the Akatsuki base".

* * *

**Review please ;)**


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